Coach Xavi Hernandez explains Barcelona formation change against Athletic Club in La Liga

The Barcelona goals on Sunday were scored by Ousmane Dembele, Sergi Roberto, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.

On Thursday, Barcelona beat Villarreal 3-0, this after the 3-1 loss to Los Blancos the Sunday before.

What seems to be working for Barcelona in their last two games is tactical changes made by coach Xavi Hernandez.

Xavi began the match against Athletic Club with four midfielders, Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Pedri, and used Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski in attack. Pedri drifted out to the left side, which made the Catalans dominate by seemingly having that extra person in midfield.

In an interview after the match, a happy Xavi told Diario AS: "Very good. We thought it was a game of intensity and rhythm. We understood that they were going to pressure us high. We added one more midfielder and today we attacked inside.

"Ousmane was especially good and the team understood that. We won duels and we have been good in the first half. We were good," Xavi said.

Diario AS then asked the Barcelona coach to explain why he used the different formation, Xavi replied: "We wanted one more player in midfield. We found the superiority and, as we have matched their intensity, that was where the keys were.

"Today we pushed out wide. We almost played with a double pivot. We showed solidity and it was a complete match," Xavi added.

On Wednesday, Barcelona are in Champions League action when they host Bayern Munich and it will be interesting what formation is used against the Bundesliga champions, who won the first Group C encounter 2-0 at Allianz Arena.