I gave you Madridistas enough time to mentally recover after that embarrassing Clasico on Sunday. Another historic victory for this generation of Barcelona legends. A Messi-less Barcelona came out and dominated the champions of Europe… again. Aside from the 10-20 minute period after Marcelo’s goal where it looked like los Blancos were closer to the 2-2 than Barcelona was to the 3-1, the hosts dominated in all aspects of the game. We know the score (5-1 in case some of you forgot) but what exactly went right and wrong for each team?
What Went Right For Barcelona?
As expected, the individual talent stood out in Messi’s absence. Luis Suarez stole the headlines for his hattrick but little was mentioned about the rest of the squad. Arthur had a Xavi-esque performance and continues to prove that he was destined to play with the blaugrana. Jordi Alba had yet another assist and his continuous runs caused Madrid problems when they attempted to hold a high line at the start. It was precisely a through ball into space to Jordi Alba that led to the first goal of the game.
Madrid are holding a dangerously high line. Expect to see Dembele coming in and look for those balls behind the lines
— Martin Pantoja (@MP_persources) October 28, 2018
Arthur’s offensive contributions allowed Rakitic and Busquets to play more freely in the midfield. Coutinho is more and more comfortable on the left wing. Lastly, the entire Barcelona defense did a tremendous job of forcing Bale and Benzema into uncomfortable positions away from goal. In fact, in the first half, Madrid’s best chances were from outside of the box.
As predicted, Barcelona exposed Madrid on the counter. Not only was Coutinho’s goal a product of a counterattack, most of Barcelona’s most dangerous attacks were off counters as well. Suarez’ second goal initiated with a 3 v 3 where Dembele led the counter and Sergi Roberto played Suarez who headered it in from the top of the box.
Suarez’ third goal was thanks to a long ball that was hoping to catch Madrid out of position. Sergio Ramos would then cough up the ball to Sergi Roberto who played Suarez in all alone. Lopetegui risked a lot in the second half by coming out with three in the back although it was a necessary risk if he wanted to make it a game. In this case, Barcelona was smart enough to look for that long ball and force an error in the back.
Barcelona dominated possession from start to finish, pressed extremely high up the pitch hoping to cause an error and dictated the tempo of the game for the majority of the match. They were coming into the game as the better team and they showed it. Suffocating defense, dominant midfield and clinical attack. Masterful game by the blaugrana.
What Went Wrong For Madrid?
It was a defensive shitshow. Barcelona’s intense pressure did not allow Madrid to play out of the back comfortably and basically eliminated Kroos and Modric in the first half. Real Madrid under Lopetegui had focused a lot on possession averaging 62% ball possession. However, against Barcelona’s high pressure, they were forced to make uncomfortable passes as they tried to find their midfielders or would eventually give the ball away in dangerous positions.
Defensively, their high line at the start spelled trouble early on. Jordi Alba and Coutinho were having a field day with Nacho who was constantly in a 2v1 defensively. Marcelo was forced to stay defensively in the first half due to Barcelona’s constant attack meaning that one of Madrid’s best attackers was essentially not in the mix. Varane continues to have an uncharacteristically bad season as he gave away a penalty after a silly foul on Luis Suarez. In general, most defenders were caught out of position or were attacked in a 2v1 situation with Barcelona outside backs joining in on the attack.
Lopetegui formation for the second half was a risky one but it did have some benefits at first. The team looked under control in the second half and the 3-5-2 allowed Marcelo to go up and join in on the attack. The extra numbers in the midfield allowed Madrid to move the ball for freely and exposed Barcelona’s inability to follow runners at time. A perfect example would be Modric’s shot off the post where he found himself streaking all alone inside the box. Unfortunately, that extra attacker left spaces behind on defense and Barcelona knew it. That’s where Dembele’s substitution changed the game. Barcelona would then have a blazing fast attacker leading the counter against an often out of position Real Madrid side.
Suarez’ second goal definitely destroyed the team’s morale and they could not recover from that. But what surprised me the most was Lopetegui substitutions. When Varane when down injured, he opted for Lucas Vazquez as the right wingback in the 3-5-2 instead of Odriozola who is naturally a right back. Vazquez had been an emergency outside back for Ancelotti and Zidane at times but under desperate measures. Essentially, Lopetegui went with two wing backs who were not tracking back and helping a struggling Nacho, a CDM-playing-CB in Casemiro and Sergio Ramos.
When the game was still in reach, Lopetegui rolled the dice even more and brough on Marco Asensio. Only problem was that he took off Gareth Bale. Although Bale did not have his best game on Sunday, he’s still one of the most electrifying forwards in the World and a player you need on the field as either a creative winger or finisher. If he REALLY wanted to roll the dice, why not take out Isco who had been poor and allowed Asensio to play as the 10? To make matters worse, Asensio inability to track back late in the game cost Madrid the fifth goal. Arturo Vidal was wide open in between the defenders as he heard in Dembele’s cross.
When Suarez scored his third goal, the game became a blowout and the result was imminent. Real Madrid had been beaten and they started to broadcast it to the World. In the last few minutes of the game, Dembele easily get past a struggling Nacho, sneaked into the box and sent in a cross before Lucas Vazquez was able to get there to help. No matter the score, there is no way that Dembele is able to get past two defenders and into the box that easily.
It was a near perfect game for Barcelona and a disastrous one for Real Madrid as the scoreline shows. Ironically, it could’ve been 2-2 had Modric scored that shot. If that had gone in, Real Madrid could’ve kept that momentum going and scored the third. Who knows?
As we know now, that was not the case. Real Madrid’s defensive woes continued and Valverde seemed to beat Lopetegui tactically from the start. Barcelona studied their opponent and carried out their game plan to perfection. Another historic Clasico win for the blaugrana who sit on top of the league as their bitter rivals dwell in ninth.
