What do you call the Barcelona style of play? It's call Tiki Taka football, which more or less means touch-touch. The tiki taka style of play is characterized by possessing the ball for large portions of the game, moving the ball quickly from one player to the next and in and out of the opponent, breaking them down with short and quick passes. It is a huge game of keep away, with the other team acting as the "piggy in the middle". You want to suck the defenders in and then break out and away when they're in too close.