5v2 Rondo: Split the Pair

The 5v2 is the rondo most associated with Barcelona and with Guardiola, who has shown it in an eight by eight yard area and said the size can change with the difficulty you want. The layout matters: one attacker on three sides and two on the fourth gives the ball a short option both ways round and a long option across the middle.

The pass that makes the exercise is the split, the ball played between the two defenders. It is worth more than any other pass in a rondo because it beats both defenders at once, which is why it is usually rewarded with a bonus point. It is also the riskiest, because a covering defender who reads it is where most turnovers come from.

So the split has to be created, not forced. The ball goes round the outside, the defenders shift with it, and the moment to look for the gap is when they stop being one in front of the other and end up level. A player holding the ball for a beat can cause that on purpose: the presser steps up to him, the cover man is dragged across to shut a short pass, and the lane between them opens.

Off the ball, nobody stands still. The neighbours of the player with the ball come short so the pass round is always on, and the players on the far side slide along their lines to sit behind the gap, ready for the split.

For the two defenders this is a lesson in pressing as a pair. One presses the ball and shuts a short pass, the other covers behind him in the split lane. The moment they go flat, the ball goes through them, and it is obvious to everyone watching.