system.xml saved config validation in Magento 2
system.xml saved config validation in Magento 2 is possible via attaching a backend model to the field and validating the value server side.

Check Magento_Backend/etc/adminhtml/system.xml for the example:
There is the backend model in this field:
Consequently the method Magento\Config\Model\Config\Backend\Baseurl::beforeSave is called when saving the field.
Source:
