During games, Xavi can often be heard encouraging his centre-backs to send more long balls into the opposition half.
In the Las Palmas clash, his instruction also applied to the midfielders. Frenkie de Jong ended up creating two big chances through long balls that helped beat the opposition's high back line.
Things are more problematic with the defenders. Xavi had to yell at his players multiple times for them to be more risky on the ball. Things only got better in the second half when Barca needed to risk more to get the win. Ronald Araujo received special applause from Xavi for one of his attempts.
The full-time stats weren't uplifting, though: while Andreas Christensen completed 5 of his 7 long balls, Araujo finished the game with just 2 successful attempts out of 11.
Inigo Martinez's comeback could be crucial here. One of the reasons Barca signed him was his impressive long-ball ability. He averages way more successful long balls per 90 minutes than his teammates: 8.23 against Kounde's 5.92, Araujo's 5.91 and Christensen 4.54.
Among all the centre-backs, Inigo also leads in the number of goal-creating actions per 90 minutes: 0.38 against Christensen's 0.13, Araujo's 0.07 and Kounde's 0.06. His return could boost both the defence (as he was the most in-form centre-back pre-injury) and the attack.
