Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona: Real start strongly but Barca eventually find a way through
The starting line-ups
Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal were Barcelona’s unlikely goalscoring heroes in the first leg at the Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho surprised many with his team selection, playing both Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain, and leaving out Mesut Ozil. Hamit Altintop made a rare start at right-back.
Pep Guardiola named the same side as in the recent league fixture at the Bernabeu, with the exception of in goal – Jose Pinto is Barcelona’s cup goalkeeper.
The game took a similar pattern to that match – Real started strongly and went ahead, but Barcelona grew into the game and eventually the pressure resulted in goals.
Real opening tactics
Mourinho went with a 4-3-3 formation and his selection featured his strongest, most powerful players. His midfield trio started with Pepe as the holding player, rather than in the high destroying role we’ve often seen him in against Barca. However, when he moved out of position, Xabi Alonso dropped in to cover the zone ahead of the back four. Broadly, it was Pepe watching Lionel Messi, Alonso on Cesc Fabregas and Lassana Diarra higher up pressuring Xavi. Sergio Busquets was freer, though Gonzalo Higuain was in and around him in the opening moments.
Real pressed on occasion, such as at goal kicks, but their pressing wasn’t as heavy as in the league meeting – in open play they stood off into their own half more, let Barca’s defenders have the ball, and waited to break.
Barca opening tactics
Guardiola started with a four-man defensive base rather than a three, albeit with Daniel Alves pushed up high on the right. As in the league game, Andres Iniesta played out to the left with Fabregas in the midfield instead of as a false forward. The width wasn’t provided from the forward line, but from Alves and Iniesta, summed up by a big long crossfield ball from the former to the latter in the first ten minutes.
Abidal played as a full-back but a relatively defensive-minded one, and he and Benzema cancelled each other out.
Ronaldo v Alves
The key battle in the first half was Cristiano Ronaldo against Alves, with Ronaldo clearly coming out on top. Ronaldo was tracking back well in the first few minutes, winning a good tackle against Alves in a deep position, as well as one higher up on Gerard Pique. Alves was doing his usual thing, trying to push Ronaldo deeper and deeper away from a dangerous position, but with Ronaldo following him back whilst staying narrow, he was in a good position to break.
With the two natural strikers quiet, this was really Real’s only dangerous option going forward – twice it worked very well. Quick balls out to Ronaldo meant Alves was twice trailing in his wake – once Ronaldo stormed forward and scored, the other time he tried to square to Benzema but the pass was intercepted by Abidal.
It was a surprise Guardiola didn’t put Carles Puyol to the right of Gerard Pique in order to assist Alves – Puyol is better in those 1 v 1 situations, and in the 5-0 last year, the two centre-backs switched sides depending on which flank Ronaldo was, in order to keep Puyol on his side.
Barcelona pressure
But the route to goal through Ronaldo was one of only two things Real were doing well. The other was containing Messi, who was quiet and wandered out to the right too much, trying to get away from Pepe but finding himself a long way from goal.
Granted, by maximising the impact of their star player (Ronaldo) and minimising the impact of Barcelona’s (Messi), Real were hardly performing badly. But there was confusion about where the defence was playing. They started high up the pitch, then dropped deeper and deeper, but still in a position where Barcelona could easily play through balls, or chip the ball over the top for runners.
When they started high up, there wasn’t so much ground for the midfield to cover – when they dropped deep – yet not deep enough to prevent Alexis Sanchez’s pace being a problem – the midfield became overrun, forced to do more work and cover a larger area.
Messi was often contained, but it was broadly 4 v 3 in the middle – Busquets, Xavi, Fabregas, Messi against Pepe, Diarra, Alonso. Diarra did a decent job on Xavi, who was an influence overall but not in the final third (which he often is against Real), but Alonso continues to struggle against Barcelona. Fabregas was allowed too much time on the ball and chipped the ball over the top twice – once for Iniesta, once for Sanchez’s header that hit the woodwork. Fabregas also made a good run over the top himself for a ball from Messi, forcing Casillas to sweep – in all, he played his tactical role brilliantly.
Another problem was Iniesta, who got the ball in space far too often. Altintop didn’t really know what to do here – he obviously isn’t a natural full-back, but stayed very deep and allowed Iniesta space to get the ball into feet, meaning Iniesta could then pick up the ball and skip past the Turkish international. He was a major goal threat, and could also come inside to further the midfield advantage.
The line-ups after Real went 4-2-3-1 on 67 minutes
Barcelona had been wasteful in the opening period and went into the break 1-0 down. The line-ups for the second half were unchanged, and the tactical battle was similar, although Alves seemed to be more cautious, and therefore Ronaldo was less of a threat on the break.
Aerials
Barcelona’s equaliser came from a set-piece. This was hugely surprising – Barcelona are a team of very small players, and Real were using, even by their standards, quite big side. Mourinho sides are usually very well disciplined at set-pieces, but Puyol was left unmarked for a diving header from a corner.
A Busquets chance later on, when he and Puyol both got free from a Xavi free-kick, showed that the problem wasn’t a one-off.
Real did go close to scoring when Benzema hit the post. Diarra (not Alonso, surprisingly) had spread the ball out wide for Altintop who crossed to the far post, and this was something Real didn’t do enough. In the Copa del Rey final win last year they made a lot of their aerial dominance after getting diagonal balls out to the flanks, and in theory with three good headers of the ball upfront should have been more of a threat in this respect here.
Real formation change
Midway through the second half Mourinho moved from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1, which involved taking off Higuain (only one forward was needed – Benzema can play wide in a 4-3-3 but not really in a 4-2-3-1 considering how deep Real were playing, and Benzema had been better than Higuain) and Diarra (more surprising, since he’d had a decent game and offered mobility, while Pepe was on a yellow card and was responsible for the goal). Jose Callejon and Mesut Ozil came on, with Callejon playing predominantly on the left and Ronaldo coming to the right.
Mourinho wanted to be more attacking, knowing he probably needed a goal advantage going to the Camp Nou. Callejon provided a bit of a spark but Ozil again struggled for space against the Barcelona midfield. The move seemed for the sake of introducing an additional attacking player, and for fresh legs, rather than for a major tactical reason.
Barca dominance
In the end, Real ended up looking more vulnerable in midfield, with Pepe and Alonso much weaker with Ozil protecting them rather than Diarra. Barca kept threatening to get away on the counter and Real were forced into cynical fouls, most obviously Ricardo Carvalho on Messi. That was a byproduct of the more attacking approach, and Real were simply undermanned in midfield after the switch.
Abidal would probably have been the last outfield player you’d expect to score, but the nature of the goal was entirely logical. Real had struggled with chips over the top of the defence, and they’d struggled in their right-back zone – combine the two, and Abidal found himself free with Ronaldo switching off, and he slid in the winner.
Conclusion
In all three Clasicos at the Bernabeu this season (Supercopa, league, cup) Real have taken the lead and then come under sustained pressure from the half hour mark. The results have been different (draw, two goal defeat, one goal defeat) but the pattern has been the same, and the reality is that it’s extremely difficult to dictate the flow of the game against Barcelona. They simply have too much of the ball.
In a sense, the only way to be in control of what you’re doing against Barcelona is to intentionally play very deep, to prevent being pushed deeper and deeper by their possession – although paradoxically you’re then losing control of the game. Real showed promise on the break, but defensively in both open play and set-pieces, they were positionally very poor for a Mourinho side.
Probably the greatest performance in Bernabeu after the historical 2-6. We rarely lost possesion despite being under extremely heavy pressure by Pepe, Lass, Alonso, we kept our lines well and we were really effective in our passing game, fluidity (we didn’t went out of shape in any moment of the game).
Superb performance by Xavi, Iniesta, Busqets and Alexis, Messi was calm and effective, our backline dealt really good with opposing attackers (except from CR’s goal).
Great game, ever greater team.
You seem very happy with the performance, i actually think Real were on top in the first half, they were defending well and counter attacking, their final ball was poor though alot of the time
Predicted Barca to win, as soon as you give them space it’s over really. Shows how amazing Barca are that they can seemingly not be at 100% but still dominate at times and eventually win, great stuff
I’m pleased with the performance (and the quick reaction) in the second half when the score was already 1-0. How our midfielders started to takeover the middle line, how they managed to push Madrid’s defence deeper and deeper every time, how they coped with hard (and unprofessional) tacking, with maintaining possession even under heavy pressure.
Really of the most dominant performances against Madrid in the past 3 years, if not, ever.
I agree second half Barca were much better. From the get go they were more urgent and as you say pushed Madrid deeper. Madrid also seemed to stop pressing which hurt them and allowed Barca to keep the ball for longer spells
The defending for Puyol’s goal was utterly horrendous mind, but yeah, great win for Barca.
Yeah, Puyol’s goal, Madrid defenders were dragged by attackers and Puyol came from behind, totally unmarked. So yes, horrible defending from Madrid. He scored a similar goal at 2-6 in 2009, check it out.
i only saw parts of the match, but it amazed me how calm Barcelona was in possession, with Madrid looking like they were chasing shadows.
As a Madrid fan, i struggle to think how we are going to beat Barca convincingly in any game in the near Future. (but hopefully we do soon!)
The main problem in this Classico was Real Madrid’s defensive line , they were too narrow in the right , Altintop left Iniesta too much space , wich was disastrous with two goals coming from that side ( the corner was caused by space left to Iniesta wich forced Altintop to conceid the corner kick )
What Mourinho could’ve done : Bring back Ramos as RB , Pepe as CB alongside Carvalho , and Altintop would come back to his position
Another alternative : Change Lass and Altintop positions , Lass could press Andres Iniesta far better than the turkish international
Real was never on top, not even when they took the lead. In the first ten minutes they hardly touched the ball, Ronaldo’s goal came out of the blue and was partly Pinto’s fault. Not for a second though I had any doubt that Barça would win. As a whole they simply looked much sharper right from the start.
I don’t think real wanted the ball in first half
Real Madrid had just two shots on goal in this game! Ronaldo’s goal was suspect against a slower keeper in Pinto than they normally field in Valdes. Also, Pique did a poor job of pressuring Ronaldo’s shot.
Similar to the League fixture, I am hearing about Real’s upper hand or superiority, yet I’m not seeing it. Both of these games were won by the superior team statistically, technically and tactically…period! Real is to be commended for trying all variety of approaches to figuring out Barcelona, varying from high pressure to conceding possession. They have even tried to buy, with a bigger budget, the world’s best remaining players to stop Barcelona. But the superior team, despite the wishful thinking of many, is and has been Barcelona in each of these games.
Ronaldo gets the least bit active (i.e. does his job as a professional), makes a couple of tackles and he is over praised! I’m not buying it! Granted, the counter attack always looks dangerous, but so does it against almost every team Barcelona plays.
That Ronaldo scores against Barcelona on a rapid counter attack (i.e. does his job as a professional), doesn’t a great player or a great effort make. I implore folks to rewatch the game and reassess his overall performance. He wasn’t even the best player on Real Madrid’s team yesterday. He makes sloppy passes, and created only a single dangerous play for Real. As pointed out in the article, the other shot on goal was initiated by Lass and Altintop and Benzema.
When Getafe beats Barcelona, we don’t rush off to say they are better than Barcelona, because we can rationally surmise that (all things being the same) 9 times out of 10, Barcelona beats Getafe. Yet, somehow, even when Barcelona has consistently beaten Real Madrid (five times in the last nine matches with three ties and only one loss) people audaciously claim Real Madrid is outplaying Barcelona.
Barcelona plays their style of game each and every time they square off against Real Madrid and they have not been beat but once doing so. Their only loss, the Copa del Rey final last April, was a game in which Madrid did not outplay Barcelona, but that for bad luck and some lack of precision Barca put Madrid in a position to snatch a win from a better team…which is exactly what happened.
I never get the sense watching these two teams play that Madrid is in control of the game or that ultimately it is poised to win. Quite the opposite, I watch the game and observe a soccer team (FC Barcelona) who is a lot like UFC fighter Anderson Silva who feels out his opponents for the first few moments of the game and then strikes. Barcelona is often accused of starting slowly, but that hasn’t prevented them from unprecedented success. I never get the feeling they are going to lose against any team although it does inevitably happen. Instead, I sense that they are masters of their trade and figuring out a puzzle that they will eventually solve.
Madrid is just another puzzle…but they are also increasingly a predictable one and without sufficient challenge (Mourinho is simply owned by Guardiola) for Barcelona, save the physicality of Madrid’s players who are fast and powerful. So if all Madrid has to offer is occasional blasting counter attacks and set pieces, I don’t expect Barcelona to lose to them except when they are exposed by their own risk-taking.
very well said.
Morinho’s fear to loose is greater than his joy to win. Against Barca he is just to afraid because he does not know what to do. Sit back, steal the ball, and be super aggressive tactics is an insult to his squad that is one of the best squad ever made for the Real Madrid.
Actions to take
1.I Zonal Marking should remove his image permanently from the website.
2. I hope Mourinho return to England where he can sell more newspapers and inflate his ego even more.
I fully agree with you….. Right now, time and time again Barca have proven to be better than Madrid in both style and technique. No comparison and I just dont see ANYBODY beating Barca unless injuries occur.
The point isn’t outplaying barca , it is to do a good job of containing them… That has become the rather cowardly but real function of an opponent vs Guardiola’s barca.
I’m not sure what u on about but no one is suggesting real outplaying barce. The reality is that Jose is probably at the wrong club. At Inter with his 5 man defence, three henchmen in front and three dynamos he felt he had the tools to contain barca. At Madrid it would be simply impossible to make the team so backward and regressive…. But that’s what he covets.
agree with jota — most of first half was barcas actually — by end of 1st half barca had been in control of the game (if not the scoreline) for quite some time
I think you missed out Benzema’s dropping into the attacking midfield positions in a Mata fashion, The first goal was a good example of this.
It’s interesting that Alexis is increasingly used as the most advanced, central attacker, and Messi is returning to his original role as wide/deep creative attacker. Great game to watch, I thought.
As he becomes more comfortable with his teammates, and they with him, Alexis is fulfilling one of the few offensive weaknesses Barca had — an attacking player other than Messi who can break down defenses off the dribble as well as through well-timed runs. His defensive work rate and pace in both offense and defense are also exemplary. The partnership between the two will be fascinating to watch in coming years.
Only in important matches, though. I’d like to see more of a Messi-Iniesta duo just behind most advanced Sanchez
are you implying on a 3-4-2-1 formation?!!? :O
i’d love to see that from Barca.
Sanchez working channels in the centre, perhaps a little to the right. Iniesta more leftish, Messi more centrish, on their respective sides. Alves providing width as a wingback, or playing conservatively as a rightback when facing dangerous wingers like last night. Driving runs from the centre by Fabs or sometimes Xavi. Busquets behind them. And then Abi, Pique, Puyol as defenders. That’s pretty much what we saw last night. If we can’t call that system 4-3-2-1 or 3-4-2-1, it must be because of the specifics of the centre of the pitch. It’s just easier for the sake of analysis to think of Iniesta and Messi as wingers so that we call it 4-3-3.
I think Messi did a nice job coming deep to receive, doing this, one of the three mid’s of Madrid follows him and there was more space in the midfield zone for Xavi, Cesc, Iniesta and Busi passing game.
Yeah they managed to create overloads in the centre on a number of occasions, especially seeing as Iniesta and Alves were remaining quite wide in the main, which stretched them and caused space between the lines in the centre. Also, the fact that Benzema wasn’t really dropping back to defend against Iniesta, meant Alonso had to come across to help Altintop when Iniesta was facing play on the ball.
What did Mourinho say in his post-match press conference? Barcelona clearly have the indian sign over him and there weren’t really any contentious decisions here to deflect attention from Barca’s dominance.
Also, what do you think Mourinho’s tactics will be for the return match? Similar to his semi-successful tactics in the 1-1 CL semi-final second leg last season? They need to be fairly proactive, especially as Barca will look to play keep ball even more than usual and as they need two goals, but can’t play high up the pitch for 90 minutes.
Its worth noting that madrid have conceded from 4 corners in their last five games.
As useful as Diarra and Pepe are for closing down the barca midfield their passing mostly leaves a lot to be desired. Alonso can also look a lot worse than he is when he’s not given time.
If Sahin were able to get a few matches under his belt and find some form could be very useful to madrid
I thought Altintop was there to play diagonal balls to Ronaldo.
Im surprise that Real dont try more crossing into the goal area with their Height advantage over Barcelona.
I suppose they need possession of the Ball to do that though.
ZM, what do you think of Sanchez in Barcelona so far? I’ve heard a lot of critics about him from many fans, but in my opinion he’s doing fantastically there, especially in his first season.
The problem of playing against Barcelona is that you might even score in the first minutes, but then they still have 80 minutes to trash you. There is no point is scoring early against them. You just have to hold the first hour, or more if you can, and score a goal as late as you can, so that they don’t have enough time to score back.
really? I’ve heard different, he is quite an asset for Barca. Dude just go straight towards goal, very energetic and has incredible work rate. He is still saying that he isn’t fully adept, hope i can see that day soon.
Sanchez is an absolute beast. Man Utd were linked to him around the time of the World Cup and he didn’t seem anything exceptionally special to me when I saw the Chile games.
In both the Clasico’s I’ve seen this year, he has absolutely shredded Madrid’s backline. I’m surprised he has any detractors at all.
Did you watch any of him last season at Udinese? He was unstoppable for most of the Spring, and that was from an unconventional position behind the striker.
Unconventional position? I thought that was his most comfortable position.
My assumption is that he was doing a “messi role” in Udinese
He’s been inconsistent. Look at his game vs. Espanyol. He miscontrolled the ball when he should have been 1v1, he found the ball in space but picked out the wrong pass several times, he had a shot go so wide it literally bounced off the corner flag. It was an awful display. But he’s had good, even great games.
Have to confess I did not see him play after the World Cup. But he has impressed in the Clasicos and if he hasn’t performed against the other ‘weaker’ teams it probably matches Barcelona’s form where they have been patch at times against other teams but always seem to raise their game against RM.
the thing is, when messi had a rough patch or what have you, he has the body of work with barcelona for someone to say it’s just a bad day. but alexis only has a couple handful of games for the blaugrana, one bad game really sticks out. he’s talented of course, but he’s yet to convince most cules that he can be a great player consistently.
I don’t agree that Puyol goal was suprising. He had scored once exactly the same on Bernabeu and in the World Cup against Germany too. If you look a few corners before he scored tonight, you will see that every time Xavi was looking for him. And after Puyol had scored, Barca tried to put in another one, but this time Casillas was faster. I’m sure Pep was studing how Real had lost goals against Malaga.
And it’s very interesting,first, how Barca completely abondoned playing on the right wing and almost every atack was on the left with outstanding inacuraccy by Iniesta. And second, how many times Xavi tried to put a long cross to Sanchez. I quess these long direct crosses will be quite brand new Barca weapon in this year.
why is Madrid okay with losing the ball so quickly?
i’m thinking of higuain+benzema “counter-attack” vs like 6 barcelona players for example, with don’t they just pass the ball back to gain precious barca non-possessing minutes
also wasn’t this game the one with the biggest low intensity phases?
for a long moment barca were okay with passing the ball without attacking and real did not press high…
People often discuss the need for Barcelona to develop a “plan B.” This often revolves around the notion of integrating a target man into the squad to offer a different style.
We’re starting to see Barca add new dimensions of play through Alexis Sanchez playing as a striker up top. He add directness and pace to the Barca attack. In the past if Madrid had overplayed and congested space between the lines to suffocate Messi’s space Barca would have struggled much more.
But today they had the option of stretching play via Sanchez and directing the attack in the final third through him. He created several dangerous chances that just weren’t finished (especially ones to Iniesta). His technical ability on the ball also allows him to “hold up” the ball even when faced with multiple defenders.
Sanchez as a central striker was decisive in the first Clasico this season. Moving Sanchez to the central striker position was key to Barca defeating Betis in the last Liga round. He was again strong in that position today.
Most often its Messi who has the responsibility to either score or create for others, especially close to goal. Barca now have a dynamic, advanced attacker who can create for Messi and lessen the burden on him.
yup i totally agree. Barca’s plan B is plan A with a twist, same players.
Excellent point. Also, Febregas making runs in behind from midfield when he is playing a false 10 (only once today that I noticed).
Strongly agreed here. It’s not even that they need a Plan B, the genius of this year’s Barcelona side (more so then ever before in the past) is their increasing rejection of a single plan within the first XI. There are principles that Pep’s team follow, constant pass and move, searching for space, retention of possession, pressing, etc. but the method by which Barcelona articulate these principles is highly variable.
For example, what is Barcelona’s shape today? 4-4-1-1? 4-3-3? 3-3-3-1? Does it even matter?
They typically gain width through attacking fullbacks, but it seems now Pep is preferring a wingback (Alves) with a creative widemidfielder (Iniesta), both supported by a centreback/fullback cross, with Busquets floating between defence and midfield to make up numbers. That’s to say nothing of the attack.
In some ways, the attack is like Man Utd last year, a pacey forward opening space for a creative forward. But at the same time Iniesta is capable both as a proper wing-playmaker and central midfielder in addition to his starting widemid role. Messi floats to the right, but equally Guardiola could have shunted Sanchez right and Messi to his customary false nine role with minimal fuss. In the last Clasico they were at times seemingly attempting something still more radical, with Sanchez running wide left with Iniesta creating behind him, and Messi and Fabregas completing the attack.
And as much as it seems Barcelona is an intricate masterclass, part of the intricacy is in their freedom to adapt within the coaches parameters. How much of Messi’s orthodox attacking midfielder/second striker position combined with right winger and false nine when Sanchez runs wide is given to Messi by the book, and how much of it is simply his comfort in a variety of roles, able to operate in many different spaces in different ways, able to threaten the centerbacks, defensive midfielders, or the leftback as he chooses …
To be sure Pep is clearly a brilliant coach. But part of his brilliance seems to be the undoing of modern defences with forwards who are comfortable occupying and providing a different threat to different zones. A fullback who is normally good at marking a zone usually played by wingers is suddenly faced with a playmaker (Iniesta), wingback (alves), poacher (Sanchez), inside forward/inverted winger (Messi), and sometimes a combination thereof.
Two shocking conclusions can be drawn from this.
Firstly and most obviously defences need to adapt. In the last (what is it now?) nine encounters the world’s best defensive coach, with one of the top three squads in the world has been unable to beat Barcelona in 90 minutes (or even 120, if we include the CDR Final) with any consistency at all. Mourinho is excellent at setting up a defence with the means which are popular to the world’s game today, but to actually consistently defend against Barcelona perhaps radical innovation is necessary. Not simply “play a back three” (as was somewhat suggested last year for Man Utd), play a very defensive 4-3-3 (been there done that), press (admittedly marginally more successful). No existing strategy seems capable of the task at hand. Defences must become better able to adapt to attacks, perhaps the now tried and true back four of two faster shorter fullbacks and a pair of big strong men in the middle is approaching obsolescence.
If we are to locate the future of defence in any team, we are inextricably drawn full-circle to Barcelona, who have experimented with asymmetric defence, three man defence, four man defence with a holding mid in front, and several of these at once. Example: the recent league game against Madrid wherein Puyol was assigned to win one-on-ones with Ronaldo, Pique was the only defined centerback, while Abidal was by Barcelona standards a conservative fullback, in between defense and midfield was Busquets who was really neither, not even just a modern centerhalf, since he often closed down Oezil higher up while the others covered for him forming a back four, while at other times he seemed to be himself in the defence, while it was not a player directly ahead of him who was liberated, but Alves on the right.
The second surprising thing we may be able to draw from this is that perhaps Barcelona’s overwhelming dominance against Madrid is built upon but not really about the Tiki Taka of Xavi and Busquets (though this is true against inferior teams like Man Utd at Wembley). Rather, it is that Barcelona’s whole team pivots around Xavi in most phases, and so while Xavi wins them titles, the strikers and defenders win them games (to corrupt the old adage). Madrid, even if they put Lass on Xavi do not stop Barcelona because they do not control the striking (and protective) elements of the team. When Inter “won” at the Nou Camp by losing 1-0 it was not that Barcelona’s passing rhythm was disrupted (Barcelona enjoyed a dominant passing game even by their own standards) but that the pincers of the then weaker Barcelona attack could not break through. Due to Inter’s 3-1 advantage they also had no need to better the Barcelona defence, so it was a fairly simply (though difficult) job. When Xavi pushes forwards to join attacks (somewhat rarely) it might be the only moments where we can glimpse Barcelona play their opponents’ game, by having one player break the structure.
The norm, however, is that the entire structure “breaks” the players into new structure (although of course this mechanism is in part the reverse too, as mentioned earlier regarding multirole forwards), and Barcelona’s dominance, if broken by a challenger may not necessarily be by furthering the tiki taka game (or outright destroying it), but rather matching the mechanisms of variability, to push Barcelona to their limits. As an afterthought, then, the idea that Barcelona might not fair so well in the Premier League, despite having no factual merit, includes a step in the right direction, your game must be different to beat them. But not different in the sense of difference from Barcelona (like a team of Rory Delaps) but different from and within itself (Copenhagen’s exploits last year are somewhat along these lines).
Only on zm would you find a post this well thought out.
Great ideas, hard to respond to as only the future will prove these thoughts to be right or wrong.
My only question is whether teams can produce a squad capable of matching the barca system without a barca style academy? Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that teams will try to replicate this system in the current world soccer system, where stars and profits matter the most.
Are people to eager to jump on to the barca “bandwagon” when they produce wins as amazing as these? The revolutionary aspect of this team seems likely to fade away if clubs can’t produce squads like the barca academy can. Surely this team is revolutionary to some extent but if the system of developing football players is incapable of changing, how can football evolve? In this sense will the “revolutionary barca” conjectures become meaningless? I surely don’t know.
Until teams are able to find a midfield of five than can stand its own against Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc and Busquets, the answer is no. There are no current mifdielders or a combination thereof that can play 5V5 against the aforementioned players.
Fergusom said after the CL final that it was the challemge of all European coaches to come up with a way to beat this Barcelona side, and both Ferguson and Mourinho have failed.
As Gary Liniker put it, if they turn up they win, simple as that.
Yet, I would argue that the only way to beat Barcelona is to beat them at their own game. I.e. press more, work harder and pass better.
Admitedly this is not an easy thing to do, but how many teams have
attempted it? The closest anyone has come to this was Arsenal last year and until Van Persie got sent off they could have done it.
What surprises and frustrates me is that Afriq may be right and this Barcelona team and their way of playing will fade away rather than pther teams attempting to better them. Can’t Real Madrid find the players to do so? Or Manchester United? Or Inter? The only team I see moving in the right direction witha good positive attitude and commitment to PLAY football is Manchester City as much as I hate to admit it, although they have started to falter of late.
Of course this depends on the managers. I would argue that Mourinho did better at Inter and probably had a better team there than he does at Real Madrid, if you look at the team as a whole rather than a couple of players Mourinho’s Inter side was much more balanced, and hard working which helps. Unfortunately, successive maangers at Inter have proved unworthy of inheriting such a good group of players.
Alex Ferguson plays his brand of football and it is a style that can be attractive at times due to its efficiency at scoring goals in the Premiership, but they no longer have Scholes and Ronaldo and they have not been replaced, if I do think that Cleverley will eventually become very important in that midfield, it’s a transitional period at Old Trafford. It’s remarkable that they are doing as well as they are still. Chelsea are in a uncanny similar position of transition as well. Their best players are getting old and slower and have not yet been replaced.
Real Madrid do really have a team of stars, which Mourinho is trying to turn into a team. This season already there are the beginnings of it and that small improvement has made them much more dangerous and the reason they are sweeping aside most teams in La Liga. And the Champions League.
Except Barcelona.
Any other year, any other era, they would probably be the best team in the world right now.
Unfortunately, there is Barcelona. Barcelona are not simply the best team in the world but probably one of the best club sides ever, if not THE best team ever (there are arguments how well they would match up to the mechanical orange of Holland circa Cruyiff or Brazil 1970).
Unsurprisingly though, with a team of World Cup and European Championship winners, plus the best player in world, again who could himself the best player ever! How scary is it that Messi is only 24??
Outstanding comment. Agree with much of what you are saying. Implicit in your comment is a point that I think is critical. With the constant refrains for a plan B, the assumption is that one “system” needs to give way to a second.
But the that’s just not the necessary. Nor is it how Barcelona conceptualize the game. The key is enhancing the dimensionality of play and enriching the capabilities of the “system.” This is why Guardiola is constantly pushing the team to open how they can play.
In this regard, Ibrahimovic and Sanchez, though completely different players, both serve the same conceptual purpose. They just do it in radically different ways. Ibrahimovic was never a “plan B.” He didn’t work out obviously much of which was due to interpersonal reasons. But where he failed, Guardiola didn’t retreat. He kept pushing. And we’re seeing this evolution now successfully run through Sanchez.
Regardin your point on defense is very interesting. I think the complexity in that is as follows: it’s ultimately the team that has the ball which dictates the game at a fundamental level in terms of its dynamics. In this regard its a challenge to control which structures you can break into.
Thanks.
For me I believe Barcelona are currently playing in a much more advanced tactical system than any team. technical superiority aside, the awareness and versatility in switching roles allow them to set up optimal positions in possession. it has become such a feature of pep’s barca that demonstrates how fluidity in movement and flexibility in tactics is way more efficient than the way other teams operate, which is more strictly defined positionally. this allows them to set up a much larger variety of combinations ( how many times have we seen messi turn provider when the need arises?)(abidal as goalscorer) than any other team. more importantly, at any single given time in possession, the options created is phenomenal. As good a defensive coach as Mou is, i think his defensive system is proving to be too backward to contain this form of attack. Madrid’s defence needs greater versatilty in terms of responsiblities switching in defence ( notice how oftern barca are able to pull defenders out of position at will to create space). one often overelooked fact is how dynamic barca’s pressing game is coordinated. they press according to field positions, compared to madrids pressing in a rigid zonal fashion (madrid cant get any space when they win the ball in midfield, and give it straight away).Defensive cover needs to match offensive potential, and what we have witnessed shows tt barca are clearly the tactically superior team, with or without the ball
Simply put, they play football at a higher football intelligence than their counter-parts. You should listen to these guys’interviews when they talk about the game, e.g.
“Thinking quickly is more important to me than playing fast. The speed of the brain is more important than pace. If you can think fast, and on top of that, you have pace, you’re certain to be the best player in the world. That is a known adage in the understanding of this game.”
-Xavi
Now add technical ability to that!
Excellent comment.
The big advantage for Barca is they have the perfect team of coach and players.
The only team in the world who can go from a 433 to 343 or 370 or what ever, without making any substitution at all. This is the point I think. The players are intelligent enough by themselves to see where the game is going and what they need to do. (remember the Messi comment – we know where the ball will reach before two passes)
I am afraid I cannot point a single different team which has players who show any kind of intelligence, anywhere near to what Barca players, on the field. Add to it, they have a core group of players – Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquests and now Fabregas – who have both technique and vision.
The scary part though is that, except for Xavi, all in the core group are still not at their peak.
Great comment, Barca are really forcing teams to adapt. It’s really nice to see a team that questions the norm of tactics, all the greatest teams in history done it, now it’s time for everyone else to alter their game
Also this is gonna probably sound stupid but if you man marked against Barca, would your defence not be altered into a shape that directly counters theirs albeit defensively? So when they adapt their shape your team automatically adapts defensively due to the man marking
But obviously the biggest problem comes when/if the player your defender is marking skins you leaving him open in space with the ball..
Excellent points yet though you forgot that Barcelona enjoy such success and effectiveness in an unconventional system like this because of three factors: a) pace (could anyone name just one Barca regular who is not that quick both on and off the ball?) b) teamwork (Barcelona’s players play for each other and the team as a whole doesn’t depend on just one, two or even three players-everyone completes each other*) c) communication (no other team in the world has so many players with so strong bonds between them-last year’s Champions League final is the absolute peak of “Mes que un club” motto).
*How interesting it is that when it comes to individual leadership and team dependence at international level Messi struggles whereas in a more teamowrking side like Spain all of Barca’s internationals shine.
“could anyone name just one Barca regular who is not that quick both on and off the ball?”
Xavi?
The highlight of the game is Pepe’s thug-ness. He should be ban from football.
I agree. Also, divers and cheaters should also be banned from the game. That would at least include busquets, fabregas, iniesta, puyol, alves, messi, villa, etc…
Calling Messi (of all players in the world him!!!) a diver shows whose side you’re really on…
Loser Madrid fan.
Hah, I’m not a madrid fan.
I’ve seen messi play act and dive plenty of times Jota.
That just proves you’ve basically not watched Messi play at all and is speaking literally not having any idea of what you’re talking about, based on possibly very few occasions where you saw him “diving”.
to be fair, I have seen Messi dive (and get a yellow for it) but its not that common. Every footballer dives.
pft. troll-be-gone…
I can’t wait for my
sirigu
maicon–lugano–sakho–bale
ganso
chantome——–sissoko
pastore–ronaldinho
pato
team to kick barcelona’s ass while playing romantic football in a few years
I guess you’ll have to wait… because that won’t happen.
Ganso as a Defensive Midfielder ? Nice joke! haha
hahhah Delusional.
In a few years…Ronaldinho, Lugano, Maicon will not be playing football in Europe… they are over 30 of aged already.
It pains me to say it, but I’d also rather see Khedira play in place of Alonso and just have 3 competent destroyers.
yup, unfortunately he is injured for some time.
A midfield that once featured players like Zidane reduced to Lass, Pepe and Khedira? What a horrible thought.
Although I agree that Alonso contributes next to nothing whenever faced with Barcelona. He never has enough time on the ball to do any real damage with his long passes and he’s too slow to be an effective defender. He’s been reduced to doling out cynical fouls, usually from behind, on his NT teammates. No wonder Fabregas wanted to punch him last night. Sad.
The midfield that featured Zidane also featured Makelele. And I doubt that yesterday Zidane (instead of Ozil, or whoever) would have helped in any way. What would Zidane do without the ball?
Indeed! What would he do indeed?
Ronaldinho??
In a one-off match (a final for example), what tactics do you think gives RM the best chance?
Perhaps reverting to how Inter Milan and Chelsea (to some degree) played Barca?
I don’t know, not only that IMO Chelsea and Inter had individually better players defensively at that time, as crazy as it sounds I think the Barcelona now are levels ahead of the Barcelona in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Yup – Makelele, Lampard, Essien, Ballack is a LOT better than Alonso, Pepe, Diarra, Khedira. Both more powerful and better goalscorers.
And agreed, Barcelona has probably improved since then.
In the Champions League Final for example: man-to-man all over the pitch, press as hard as Barca, play 10 best players(plus GK), not the 10 best that includes 4 defenders and 6 mids/forwards. If that happens to be 2 defenders and 8 mids/forwards, then so be it.
If you give them time and space, Barca will beat you. If you don’t give them time and space, they might beat you.
It goes without saying that all 10 outfield players must defend in sync, alternating between heavy pressing and dropping very deep (depending on the scenario/fitness levels). As far as offense goes, 3 and 4 man breaks are the standard tactic. However, the central forward needs to be able to cause problems on the wings, and vacate the center, thereby creating room for Ronaldo/Ozil/Di Maria. During the Supercopa last summer, Madrid’s best play against Barcelona was when Benzema drew Pique to wide areas. In the open field, he can use his vision and his surprising acceleration to cause problems.
Agree. This is Non-sense. Barca has evolved as well. It’s a team with more variables from match to match and within a match. Way better.
SO whats the answer for Real Madrid?
More crossing into the box to use their height advantage?
Pack more defensive players into the midfield?
Start with more attacking players to unsettle Barcelona?
Change up of formation or players?
(side question: who is the most successful team against Barcelona in recent times (if there is such a thing!) or what has been the most successful tactic or formation against them?
there has to be a weakness somewhere!
recently, id say the only team to have given barca as good as they got was Marcelo Bielsa’s Bilbao. as ‘Cogito’ mentioned regarding the idea of a new fluid form of defending, bilbao were playing a free form back four made up of defenders and midfielders, who tracked the barca attackers all over the pitch whilst not leaving gaps at the back. never seen a defence play like that before. whilst barca’s attack is made up of no real striker, just a collection of attacking mids/ wingers and a false 9, is it logical that the only way to defend against it is to use a back four made up of ball playing defenders and midfielders?
if memory serves, the game ended 1-1 (might have been 2-1 to barca) with a late, late barcelona goal – the only game I’ve seen barca play were i truly thought they deserved to lose.
Any thoughts ZM?
And why did Bielsa’s boy managed to stifle Barca? Because they have been training to put pressure all around the field.
RM doesn’t play like that, they pressure to get goals and stop when they are in a lead but they tire too fast against Barca and that’s when they punish you. And tire doesn’t just mean your physical but also mentally you become slower and you react slower to movement and plays.
Yup.. can’t agree no more.. Bilbao Players now has become a “Beast” under Bielsa.. a term that refers a tireless marking against other teams and -what I thought- was worked against Barcelona in their last meeting in San Mames..
You’ve forgot, that it was game during really heavy rain, so playing tiki-taka when the pitch so much slows down the ball is quite hard and it’s much more easier to defend.
But I agree, that Bielsa transform Athletico into the beast and maybe we will see it in next game against Real.
La Liga officiating heavily favors a side like Barca over a Mourinho-style side. No, I’m not talking about corruption but rather about the restrictions on contact. This makes it alot easier for Barca to play their game.
That must be why Barca is much less successful when they have non-Spanish referees — that is, in international play.
Oh, wait . . .
wow… it must be exactly why Real madrid has a 007 license to break all of Barca player’s legs and not get booked yellow, forget about getting ejected… RM should have ended with 9 players, but if you want to be by the book, 3 ejections red… for sure.
the refs are probably pro barca huh??
Where did I say that they’re incapable of adapting to non-La Liga officiating? I’m simply stating the obvious truth that, compared to leagues like the EPL, Bundesliga, and even Serie A, the level of contact accepted by La Liga officials is minimal. Are you really denying this?
As for Real Madrid in the El Classico, all I have to say is- look at the number of bookings they picked up, and perhaps even more importantly, the number of fouls.
The game ended 2-2, but this game are disturbed by the heavy rain that makes barcelona player struggle so hard.. But one thing for sure, Bielsa shows a very unique defense system against them.. I watched again and again and amazed how they marking so fluidly even when Valdes started to kick the ball from the goal post.. I doubt Mou or any other teams can do what Bielsa did against Pep cause it’s very “Bielsista”
Yes, the amount of water on the pitch in that Bilbao-Barca match completely changed the nature of the game; there was ponding everywhere. You could hardly pass the ball along the ground at all. Bilbao does usually play well against Barca, but I would not try to draw any conclusions about either team’s tactical strengths from that match.
Valencia!
These are the statistics of every team Barcelona has played in official matches since Guardiola took over against Pep’s team (over 90 minutes).
Sevilla has gotten the most points (8) against them, Chelsea and Estudiantes are the only teams that have managed to avoid defeat (in 2 or 1 matches respectively).
Real Sociedad actually has the best points per game ratio with 4 points out of 3 games, although it has to be said that Barcelona already basically had the league won last season and fielded a better B-team when Sociedad bested them in between the two CL-semi final matches against Real Madrid.
Nevertheless, make of this what you want:
Sevilla 11p 8 pts 8-25
Atletico 9p 6 pts 12-31
Espanyol 9p 5 pts 7-15
Mallorca 9p 5 pts 7-21
Kazan 4p 5 pts 3-4
Real Madrid 13p 4 pts 10-30
Sociedad 3p 4 pts 4-8
Real Betis 5p 4 pts 9-15
Osasuna 8p 4 pts 5-21
Bilbao 12p 4 pts 9-25
Getafe 7p 4 pts 5-11
Arsenal 4p 4 pts 6-10
Inter 4p 4 pts 3-4
Valencia 7p 3 pts 5-14
Hercules 2p 3 pts 2-3
Shakhtar 5p 3 pts 5-11
Wisla Krakow 2p 3 pts 1-4
Numancia 2p 3 pts 2-4
Villarreal 7p 2 pts 7-19
La Coruna 6p 2 pts 2-16
Chelsea 2p 2 pts 1-1
AC Milan 2p 1 pts 4-5
Gijon 7p 1 pts 3-16
Santander 7p 1 pts 3-20
Levante 3p 1 pts 2-8
Almeria 4p 1 pts 2-13
Copenhagen 2p 1 pts 1-3
Stuttgart 2p 1 pts 0-4
Bayern 2p 1 pts 1-5
Lyon 2p 1 pts 3-6
Basel 2p 1 pts 1-6
Estudiantes 1p 1 pts 1-1
Porto 1p 0 pts 0-2
BATE 2p 0 pts 0-9
Pilzen 2p 0 pts 0-6
Granada 1p 0 pts 0-1
Hospitalet 2p 0 pts 0-10
Zaragoza 5p 0 pts 3-17
Vallecano 1p 0 pts 0-4
Al-Sadd 1p 0 pts 0-4
Santos 1p 0 pts 0-4
Malaga 6p 0 pts 4-21
Almeria 4p 0 pts 1-16
Ceute 2p 0 pts 1-7
Man Utd 2p 0 pts 1-5
Panathinaikos 2p 0 pts 1-8
Valladolid 4p 0 pts 0-14
Tenerife 2p 0 pts 1-9
Xerez 2p 0 pts 1-5
Leonesa 2p 0 pts 0-7
Dynamo Kiev 2p 0 pts 1-4
Benidorm 2p 0 pts 0-2
Sporting 2p 0 pts 3-8
Huelva 2p 0 pts 0-4
Atlante 1p 0 pts 1-3
Actually, according to your table, the best points-per-game is
Hercules 1.5
Numancia 1.5
W Krakow 1.5
Sociedad 1.33
Kazan 1.25
Chelsea 1.0
Estudiantes 1.0
Inter 1.0
Arsenal 1.0
Interesting how awful Real Madrid’s record is. Below that of many many other Spanish teams.
> Real Madrid 13p 4 pts 10-30
That is astounding, especially considering that all 4 points were won on draws that were beneficial to Barcelona and poor results for Madrid.
The teams that cause more damage to Barcelona were Milan and Chelsea in a diamond midfield. When Chelsea play Makelele,Essien,Lampard and Ballack they have a lot of problems and they win really because of anders frisk. Milan this season has provided a lot of problems to Barcelona. That compact midfield and the two strikers moving to the sides are one of the most damaging system´s to Barça.
Mourinho’s original plan (which he tried to change after 67th minute) was to revert back to the tactics used in last seasons 3 out of 4 meetings in April: Play Pepe in the center, sit back with adjustable line, pressure with adjustable aggression and counter..
You said it quite yourself ( “as heavy as in the league meeting – in open play they stood off into their own half more”)
This was quite different from what we saw in the December fixture, when they tried to come out and play their normal game.
Thus, i don’t agree with your final line that it was a same pattern game.
Maybe the course of events are similar, but the tactical pattern i believe is not.
They didnot try to dictate the flow of the game..
Clearly, Barcelona are an amazing side and have a very positive record against Real Madrid under Guardiola’s tenure.
My question is, what has been the reason for them struggling to finish off some of La Liga’s other teams this season? In years gone by, they would have comfortably beat them. Are injuries at the back an explanation or is it Guardiola’s tinkering with a 3-man defense? Lastly, could it be that these teams have adopted a particular approach (plus a little luck) to stifle Barcelona’s attacking play?
Barcelona seems to be struggling in Liga because of the experimentation with new formations. Also even though many would like to believe that Liga is weak compared to other leagues, the opposition players are more technically gifted than their European counter-parts and as such the Barca team gets to be tested more, especially when playing away from home. The teams are capable of holding on to possesion, the managers are slightly more tactically astute compared to their European counterparts.
Think of all the young Spanish coaches plying their trade in that country.
More tactically astute? Compared to where? Maybe than England, but certainly not Italy. I’d also say that Germany has really come on leaps and bounds in the coaching department in recent years.
As for technical players in Spain playing v Barca, the reality is that they usually see little of the ball, so technique takes a back seat to tactics, discipline and fitness…
It’s hard to say in the Bundesliga because many of the best coaches coach some of the poorest sides. Is it simply that the Bundesliga is very even making it conducive to underdogs? The lack of a hierarchy of teams (save Bayern, of course) makes it very hard to actually discern what is “overperfoming.” This contrasts with England where the big four dominated for many years and today there are still five very strong teams, with Newcastle as a surprise package.
Dutt coached Freiberg before Leverkusen (who are not what they were last year).
Tuchel has Mainz (but most of his good players left over the summer)
Hecking at Nurnberg (“”)
Slomka coaches a pretty poor Hannover team in terms of talent
Felix Magath who could once have been counted for to try and get his dastardly revenge against Bayern seems to have lost his touch. To be fair, this may simply because there’s plenty of madness in his method – brutal physical training and large squads with intense inter-squad competition, both of which alienate players.
La Liga probably is underrated in English media though, there are plenty of quality players plying their trade for weaker sides. There are also a few “lesser” teams which have very strong identity (Swansea and Stoke come to mind as analogies) like Bilbao (now with world class coaching) and Espanyol.
I guess all I was suggesting was that the Bundesliga(not to mention the German NT setup, from youth on up) has really started to see a new generation of coaches who are helping to create the “new German style”. In fact, some aren’t even that new, but they’ve incorporated the new methods…
Barcelona have struggled on the road vs (relative) Liga minnows partially because of complacency, partially because the poorer teams have no pretense of mounting strong, sustained attacks versus Barca. So they sit behind the ball for 90 to 94 minutes, keep the defense deep, foul tactically, and attack only occasionally. Guardiola’s tinkering with three man back lines and five or six midfielders, plus more direct weapons like Fabregas and Sanchez, is an attempt to counter these packed in defenses.
The only teams that managed to supplement a very disciplined defensive approach with periods of inspired attacking play that put Barcelona on their heels (in relative terms) have been Valencia, Bilbao and Espanyol. Bilbao was especially fantastic, but they were also arguably helped by an absurdly damp pitch and torrential rains that in any other match would have prompted a postponement. Espanyol’s approach was most intriguing – they were quite ferocious in defense and frenetic in their attack, choosing to spray the ball forward consistently no matter what their chances of scoring. They managed to bait Barca into responding in a similarly frantic and direct manner (with a major price paid in efficiency and possession), the opposite of what Barca did last night at the Bernabeu.
It’s a terrible cliche, but it seems the only thing that can stop Barca are extreme park-the-bus teams with some attacking potential (or luck, as in Getafe’s case), and Barca themselves. Their wavering concentration in various fixtures this year is the classic sign of a team that struggles mentally at times with stratospheric expectations.
Also, Pep has been using the 3-4-3 formation a lot for most Liga matches. Against Espanyol he deployed it and was prone to counter attacks quite often.
To the list of Valencia, Bilbao and Espanyol, may I add teams such as AC Milan and England (against Spain). These teams possess mid fielders, who are technically gifted with capability of holding the ball under the relentless pressing from Barcelona’s players thereby exploiting massive spaces elsewhere for positive forward passes..
While one may lose so much possession to Barcelona, these chances in the open play are the ones teams can look to create without any shame and mind-the-accusation-of-lack-of-beautiful-play…
English midfielders are technically gifted? With the capability of holding the ball?
LOL :p
Again, until Madrid get a higher quality midfield, they just won’t be able to consistently defeat Barcelona. Granted, they might win La Liga this season, but they can’t find a winning strategy against this team. They don’t have any pure defensive midfielders.
Lass Diarra is a very hard working player, but unless he is given one very specific duty, such as man marking, he is way too easily to drag out of position. Khedira gets dribbled by way too easily, although one can’t blame him for letting guys like Messi and Iniesta by him. Pepe in the midfield is a red card waiting to happen.
Xabi Alonso is average defensively, although he is important in spreading the ball. Close him down quickly though, and he’s done. Ozil isn’t the right guy against Barcelona. He’s talented, but he’s not meant for clasicos. He needs to be in a team that dominates possession, where he has time to pick out his pass and dictate the game. That won’t happen for Madrid against Barcelona. Kaka would be a good alternative, but he needs some consistency. Nuri Sahin is for next season. Di Maria and Callejon are great, but they are played as advanced wingers and they don’t come into the middle much.
Pep is still experimenting a lot with the forward line, I am very curios to see what he decides is his starting attack. At first he wanted a Villa-Messi-Sanchez attack, although injuries prevented that. Than he started using his 3-4-3 diamond with Cesc joining the attack a lot and the two wingers beside Messi staying wider to give Cesc more space. It was Sanchez-Messi-Cuenca/Pedro. Then for the last few weeks Pep has been going with a Sanchez-Messi-Alves forward line in his 3-4-3. He did it in the 3-1 against Madrid. He is also started Cesc in the forward line a lot.
Lately he seems to be favouring Iniesta on the left wing and Cesc in the midfield in a 4-3-3. Pep is struggling to figure out who should be central and who should be on the right. Messi was used as a false 9 last season because there wasn’t anyone else who could have played in the middle (he tried Villa there and he failed). This season, he seems to be trying to find a way to make it so that Messi isn’t the most advanced player. Messi plays his best when someone else is occupying the CBs.
Before Villa’s injury, Pep had started to try out Villa in the middle again, without much success. But Sanchez speed to get in behind a defense, and his ability to hold the ball almost like a target striker, have lead to him playing very well as a striker. I don’t think that is his permanent position, but until Pep gets someone else who can play there, that will probably be Sanchez’s position.
Has anyone thought of playing Di Maria centrally as a creative midfielder. He is calm on the ball, good technically, has great vision and distribution.
Please tell me why this wouldn’t work.
Di Maria is a very direct player, and doesn’t offer the patience that Ozil does. Di Maria is perfect where he is, cutting inside from the right wing. Di Maria was sorely missed in this match though, I think Madrid would have created more opportunities and also would have slowed down Barca’s rampant left wing.
Here’s ZM’s piece that goes into greater detail: http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/7454124/outlining-mesut-ozil-importance-real-madrid-michael-cox
DiMaria is anything but calm on the ball. He is good technically at one-on-ones, he is very quick, and he has high stamina. He does not have great vision though. He is, similarly to Marcelo, incredibly frantic on the ball. This guy you can only play on the wing. Elsewhere he’d get confused by too large numbers of options and decisions.
Good points, I just can’t see why are you calling it “struggling” – Guardiola rarely uses the same consecutive line-up and it has served him well, that’s tactical flexibility, player rotation and adaptation.
Then again, in the second part of the season he usually rotates less, so you should get your answer – although he will still alter things for some specific opponents.
Also, why get another central striker? This is Barcelona, not Stoke. Messi does great there, Sanchez is useful in certain situations, Villa is still alive.
Sanchez is useful all-around. He’s a tremendous addition to the squad. He can drag defenders out of position, make runs into the middle, track back on defense – he’s everything Pep could have hoped for.
Regarding Ozil, I agree. He’d have been an interesting addition to the Barca midfield. I wish Barca would have signed him.
mourinho is getting less angry. hes finally realizing that barca just have MORE TALENT, its as simple as that. when he beat them with inter, he pretty much bought a whole new team in one year, and he almost matched that talent. he also gave them zlatan who pretty much just hindered barca. in his last year he brought lucio, motta, sneijder, milito, pandev, eto’o.
the amount of WORLD CLASS (not just good) players at INTER 2010: julio cesar, maicon, lucio, cambiasso, sneijder, milito, eto’o -> thats 7 world class players!
BARCELONA 2010: valdes, puyol, pique, dani alves, iniesta, xavi, busquets (im not counting ibra as he did nothing) -> thats 7 world class players as well!
REAL MADRID TODAY: casillas, pepe, ramos, alonso, ronaldo, ozil, higuain (no benzema isnt)
- > 6
BARCELONA TODAY: valdes, pique, puyol, alves, busquets, xavi, iniesta, messi, fabregas, villa, pedro -> 11! thats a full squad, of WORLD CLASS. almost DOUBLE of what madrid have.
the thing with inter was that mourinho built that squad by buying and using cheap on the market/aged players who next year were all gonna suffer the downfall of their career, thats why he left. hes made real madrid stronger than it was no doubt, but barcelona have just gone through the roof.
You missed Messi in your Barca 2010 list.
Pepe is emphatically not world class, while Benzema most definitely is. I would put Di Maria there as well, he’s one of the 3 or 4 best right wings in the world.
yea haha i missed messi. just goes to prove my point, theres so many world class players in the barcelona team, that when you count them up you forget their best player.
Abidal?
Yeah I just cringe at Madrid not picking up Mascherano when they had the chance. If they had grabbed him instead of Khedira, their midfield would be so much more complete (along with the nice masch/alonso partnership from liverpool) and mourinho might even be able to field an advanced playmaker against barca. Instead he has to pack his midfield tight defensively and abandon any hope of goals outside of counter attacks.
Cogito,are you suggesting that Pep’s
Barcelona operates like “Solaris”:self-fulfilling
thinking organism and to defeat it you have to create
similar one?
ZM, I would like to add a important tactical note, which I think would give more credit to Guardiola’s impact on the game.
Notice how usually, Barcelona plays about 70% short-corners.
Then yesterday, it was the other way, 80% were traditional corners to the box.
Why is that? I think Pep knew perfectly Madrid has been conceding lots of goals from corners in last matches, so he instructed his team about how to hurt em in set pieces. So Puyol scoring in a corner yesterday, has nothing to do with luck!
Technically speaking, Mourinho knws what hell must feel like, having to face barcelona each time and coming up second best.
Barcelona seemingly havnt fared well with lower teams in the league because there is no ego involved.
Conversely, Real struggle against Barca as much as they do because they’re too obsessed with beating them. Alot of pressure, expectation and ego’s involved. Plus, there’s likely some anger and resentment- neither of which is always helpful in battle.
Barca are the better team but Real shouldn’t be losing to them as often as they have- the difference isn’t that great…
Just a few points:
- Mourinho has to drop Xabi Alonso for these matches. He’s simply extremely ineffective against high pressing, so is it really worth it to sacrifice so much possession and defensive ability, in return for a few odd trough balls? Real’s attacks were much more intelligent and composed, when Madrid started their attacks tough another player, whose first instinct isn’t to unleash a 50yard diagonal ball.
- Ramos’ positioning was very questionable. I think he doesn’t trust Carvalho’s pace, so he was unwilling to hold the line, and thus dropped few yards off in order to cover for trough balls. Barcelona’s attacks were much less dangerous when Ramos stepped out of the back to cut passes and hassle opponents, letting Carvalho worry about what’s happening behind him.
- I don’t think Altintop did that bad of a job against Iniesta. His marking was what you could expect from a player who isn’t a defender by trade, but he won quite a few 1v1 challenges. Alonso didn’t trust him one bit though, and was doubling on Iniesta at every given chance, which lead to more dangerous situations than Iniesta taking on Altintop.
- Why did Hiquain stop marking Busquets? When the match started, I was like ”Wow, Barcelona are going to have hard time breaking that down”, but soon as they left Busquets free, the hell broke loose.
(This is not to be overly critical of Real’s performance, Barcelona were brilliant as usual.)
“Mourinho has to drop Xabi Alonso for these matches”
you are probably right. When playing in classicos Real Madrid need runners because there will be alot of chasing shadows. You really have to sacrifice alot of creativty and possesion for energy and defensive abilty.
The best exanmple would be Ozil, fantastic player but his playing style requires very little defending, time, space and possesion. The best alternative would be Kevin Prince Boateng. Probably the most dynamic trequartista in Europe at the moment. He has too much energy and isnt very shy when defending
Coentrao could be an alternative.When I found out Coentrao is comfortable to play as central midfielder, the first thing that came to my mind was extra support on the flank for Ronaldo and Marcelo. I would like to see all three on the same side ina classico.
Also what happened to Sahin, I have heard people say he is for the future ( a replacement for alonso) but Jose Mourinhio doesent strike me as a manager that buys for the future much
“Mourinho has to drop Xabi Alonso for these matches”
This the equivalent of Manchester United’s fan with Carrick, great player as he is, he very much struggles against high pressing teams much like Alonso.
I dont think Real can greatly improve on their attacking aspect from what it is bu their defensive part of the squad definitly needs an overhaul.
I dont think Diarra should be playing at this level. There is a reason why he was shafted to Portsmouth from Arsenal. He has played decently in his time at Real but he is nothing more than a backup.
The fact that Reals backline features new players alomost every classico indicates the major issue there. They dont have a reliable centerback namely after Carvalho who is already nearing the end of his career. Pepe is one brain fart away from being permanent liability and Ramos should be back playing RB where he belongs.
Unsporting behavior from both sides.F***ing disgrace.The two best teams in europe should be ashamed for bringing the beautiful game down to that level.
Both sides?
Surely most fingers point to madrid, but the barcelona players are no innocent.Diving and overeacting to fouls hurts the otherwise flawless image this team has built.
Diving will never go away, there is not a single team in professional football innocent from this – its just a part of the game and one must learn to live with it. If such an act brings victory to your team then it’s acceptable, otherwise it’s unacceptable. Personally I would wish that the game is full of instances such as how Busquets made Ozil look like a fool with that marvelous fake.
What’s insulting for me is when a player goes beyond traditional acting and actively seeks out to hurt the other player. This is a travesty.
Diving will never go away but neither will rough play. I personally find grown men rolling on the ground when they’re not hurt pathetic. I guess it must be a cultural thing- some societies don’t mind cheating.
Rough play is fine and something a team is free to employ as a tactic against technically superior teams such as what happened between Spain and Holland in the last World Cup. The problem is in how mentally unbalanced players like Pepe interpret that and actively seek out out to do harm. This is far worse than any form of acting and what not. Even Marca is coming out in protest by this clowns actions.
There was minimal exaggeration from Barcelona this game, although it’s true that in some games in particular they have been pretty bad. (The Copa final being the worst example) But in this game the worst diver by some distance was Pepe himself! He was on the floor for minutes after Cesc’s arm brushed against him…
To be fair it’s usually Busquets and Pepe.
That’s hardly fair – it’s almost never Busquets. Use your eyes and not your ears.
What? Then you should use your brain and not your heart. Busquets is the worst in Barca in over-reacting and diving.
He’s got a reputation because of that Inter game but in all honesty he’s been behaving decently for a long time now.
This game was a disgrace for Real Madrid, in my opinion. They barely had any chances and the linesman stopped at least three goal situations with wrong offside calls against Barcelona (impressive, here in Brazil one wrong call and they call it cheating, in Spain they get 3 wrong calls in the first half and barely anyone says anything…). Had Pinto not failed miserably in that poor shot from Cristiano Ronaldo and the linesman not failed completely at his job with 3 wrong calls in the first half, this game could have ended 5-0 or more. In fact a 2-1 doesn’t represent what happened in the field at all, Barcelona dominated far more than a 2-1 would make it look like.
..which offside calls were wrong specifically? You sound like a blind Barca fan.
There is no ‘disgrace’ in losing to Barcelona. Iniesta/Messi/Xavi/Cesc as a combination are so deadly right now that I seriously challenge anyone to think of a theoretical midfield that could outdo them. You are talking about a team that many critics are already calling the greatest of all time.
Real Madrid have a player who last season broke the record for most goals scored in a season of La Liga, they are counter attacking at breakneck speed scoring goals sometimes in under 12 seconds, they are regularly beating teams 3-0, 4-0, and 6-0, they got through the group stages of the Champions League by winning all 6 matches and they are being hotly topped to beat their club record of 96 points gained in a season. If they can do all that and still not beat Barca, should they really hang their heads in shame?
Aside from two or three questionable players, Real Madrid are almost as good as any reasonable person could expect them to be. Mourinho will have to be patient and keep trying different tactics until something starts to work. No team in world football can consistently cause Barca problems, they are miles ahead of anyone else.
Actually I saw 2 wrongly called offside calls too. One on Alexis witch left him with a one on one on casillias. The second was on Iniesta I think. Both in the first half. And it is indeed a bit strange that so little fuss is made around it. Guess what if those 2 calls would have been against Madrid..
the other erroneous offside call was against cuenca near the end of the game
Somebody mentioned here before that two of the top individual midfield performances against Barca in the past couple of years have come from Banega and Wiltshire. They are both have decent mobility, the capacity to press effectively in the defensive phase, the talent to walk around players/skip past tackles in the midfield (a la Iniesta), and the ability to play progressive passes. They seem to show some football intelligence. Perhaps if you pack the middle with 3 or 4 of that type, and then counter like Shaktar…
In any event, if you don’t want to go the parked bus route against Barca, surely the matches to pore over are Valencia, Shaktar, Arsenal.
The “parked bus” routine worked well for Rubin(was it 1 win and 2 draws?) as well as Inter. How many sides who didn’t park the bus were able to win or draw v Barca?
Athletico de Bilbao and Espanyol, both recently.
Ok, that’s 2 sides. Considering how Barca have been dropping points here and there in the league, it’s hard to say how much was due to tactics or just Barca’s form(plus, as someone mentioned, the weather in the Bilbao match).
It is a F..ing disgrace. The the so-called 9 times champions winner, blah, blah… plays at HOME vs Barca for the 5th time and has 1 or 2 shots on goals and 30 fouls.
Athletic Bilbao, tied Barca 2-2 at home. Honestly Bilbao deserve to win they actually had more chances and shots on goal than Barca. Barcelona got lucky at the end of the game for the equalizer..
Bilbao has not spent 600 million Euro and has the self-proclaimed “special one”. Although most would take Marcelo Bielsa over Mou any day of the week.
As always good analysis ZM. Though there are some issues of the game which I think you didn’t evaluate appropriately. As mentioned Madrid´s tactics was to sit deep with a strong defensive midfield triangle and soak up pressure. I seemed though that occasionally, as part of a coordinated strategy, the entire team would switch to high pressure when Pinto had the ball, only to fall back moments later. After Ronaldo´s goal it seemed Barca were getting an even tighter grip on the match. This followed a similar pattern from the December game and surely Mourinho must have known, that standing of and inviting 70 minutes of relentless Barcelona dominance would spell suicide. In spite of that, I got the feeling that the Real players avoided possession of the ball like they were trying to emulate the Inter tactics. It was especially visible close to the break, when none of Madrid´s defenders nor keeper dared to make even the simplest, of passes even when there was relatively little pressure. They just hoofed to ball towards Pinto. A few spells of possession would have bought Madrid that much needed rest, time of the clock, selfassurance and maybe the odd chance.
I were expecting this negligence of the ball to change after the break, when Los Blancos could catch their breath and Mourinho could instruct them to play a more proactive game. Not sure what happened at the start of the second half, as the goal altered the parameters of the match. I am confused though. Do you think Madrid were actually avoiding possession or was it just a consequence of extremely low confidence and bad technical ability of Madrid´s defence and midfield?
Surely Mourinho wouldn’t be foolish enough to think that his team would last one more half against Barca´s dominance. If he were, why would he even think a one goal lead would be enough going to Camp Nou?
If it wasn’t a deliberate approach, it’s frightening that brilliant and experienced players like Ramos, Carvalho, Casillas can lose so much composure, so that they are incapable of stringing more than two passes together. Guess that comes from too many mental trauma and the notion that one slip and some quick and tidy guy will snatch the ball and score at the drop of a hat.
Some other points from the match:
- Deploying Sanchez as almost an out-and-out striker, more than willing to make numerous runs in behind the defence anticipating a Xavi, Messi or Fabregas ball, was a lethal weapon and a well tought-out move by Pep. Its most important asset though was that it forced the Madrid backline to intercept the runs which helped push the entire Madrid towards their own goal further exploiting Barcelonas dominance of possession.
- It was hilarious yet painful to witness Coentrao panicking everytime Sanchez made those runs. Fabio Coentrao kept trying to follow Sanchez deep runs instead of holding the line. He obviously has serious issues trusting the pace of the central defenders either that or he does simply not understand the concept of offside. Today it didn’t cost them, but it was the same pattern last game when Sanchez scored one exploiting that exact flaw in Coentrao´s game.
- Messi really is a player of immense ability. Because Sanchez played so centrally, in the room Messi would normally run into, Messi didn’t have the same role as usual. Instead he played abnormally deep. Sometimes he took up positions deeper than Xavi, Fabregas looking more like a central midfielder. In that respect he kept the passes and movement flowing nicely. Because of Lass and Pepe he had serious trouble making those mesmerizing runs which are his trademark, being stopped in his tracks numerous times. Like a master of the midfield though his vision granted him the opportunity to influence the game yet again with that delightful chipped pass. That must be what sets Messi apart. Having a poor uneventful game in central midfield and still he pops up with the good in a different manner. Do you think we will see Messi in somewhat the same role more often from now on? Leaving the goal scoring to Sanchez and others while fully emerging himself as the orchestrator of things.
- The clamour that Cristiano Ronaldo is the source of the misfortune Real Madrid has experienced against Barcelona will finally muffle. Ronaldo was the best player on the pitch in the first half scoring, working defensively well and breaking dangerously. He was showing, that especially the home supporters were wrong about him. In spite of getting the best out of Ronaldo they still lost though. This just goes to show that, Real Madrid´s problem has not been that they haven’t benefitted from Ronaldos class and skill, but more worryingly that the entire team is being dominated utterly.
This match was another proof that Barcelona are the most cohesive side, to say the least. Their tactical abiility and flexibility is beyond par, both defensively and offencively. For example, check Abidal’s positioning to intercept the final pass in Real’s counters. Or the flexibility of Fabregas, who can play the Xavi-role and cover him when he is more advanced, play some killer pass (a la Messi), or even finish himself (having 9 league goals so far). That is, i think the key factor for their dominance (apart from being mentally superior when they play Real)
“The key battle in the first half was Cristiano Ronaldo against Alves” – I personally believe that the key battle in the first half was between Pepe and Busquets. Every time Busquets got on the ball, he was immediately pressed by Pepe who initally played as the furthest forward of the midfield three.
Mourinho knows that Busquets is typically at the heart of most Barcelona attacks and so deployed Pepe in midfield to press him quick and early in order to try and pressure him into making mistakes and therefore stopping Barcelona dominating the midfield and being allowed to play.
However, this only really lasted 17 minutes due to Pepe’s yellow card and soon after Diarra was given the role to press Busquets but did so less effectively – the reason why Busquets one his own personal battle and allowed Barcelona to come into the game and get a win. It’s also important to factor in the point that Madrid would never be able to keep up the midfield pressure for 90 minutes and after going 1-0 up were always likely to naturally play deeper and try to contain Barcelona.
P.S. Ronaldo was quiet once he moved to the right hand side as he was no longer able to exploit the space in behind alves. When Barca attecked they left three at the back and when Madrid had quick turnovers, the back three of Abidal, Pique and Puyol were stretched by Ronaldo, Benzema and Higuain.
You got some good points. Although, I do believe that the a key battle was Ronaldo vs Alves. When alves was worried about ronaldo he scored.. and after the 1-0. Ronaldo was worried about alves… Ronaldo was never seen in the match.
Busquest Beat Pepe, even though pepe was more worried about Messi whereabouts than recovering balls. Pepe mission in the middle is to crowd and stop messi, Not really to recover balls. What’s the point on Pepe in recovering a ball if immediatly he is gonna give a bad pass or just kick it all the way to pintos area… very sad.
Madid have conceded some goals from corners since the start of the new year. Not so surprisingly, Barça took all of their 8 corners long – and not short like they usually do. Then they went to score in that way when it seemed the least likely. Just another little detail of yesterday’s game.
Barça are owning Madrid and Guardiola is owning Mourinho, seriously.
Good point. Barcelona will 8/10 times play the corner short. And against Madrid, a very tall team, you would expect more of the same. Yet Pep must have watched Madrid’s last few matches, specifically against Malaga, and thought it would be good to try to exploit that. It also helped that Barcelona GOT so many corners. Doesn’t matter how short your team is, if you launch in enough corners, eventually the defense will make a mistake. Madrid were perfect for most corners, and Pepe won a couple of headers from the first few corners Barca had. But he made a mistake just once, and that’s all they needed.
Well done by Pep. These games can be won by tiny details, and Pep is a perfectionist. He saw one tiny flaw in Madrid’s defense, and looked out to take advantage. Barcelona are overpowering Madrid in every match, but I also feel as if Pep’s tactics go a long way too. Not any major changes in the system, but changing players’ positions and studying every detail, I feel as if Pep is currently out-smarting Mourinho.
Here’s how i think RM should play against Barca.
Defense:
3 DCs – 2 FBs
The DCs each has a different role. 1 DC to man mark the Barca striker even when he drifts to wide positions (I suggest Ramos). 1 DC in an advanced position more like a defensive midfielder so he must be higher up the pitch than the other 2 DCs but has the duty/ability to track back any forward runs into the box (I suggest Pepe). 1 DC playing a zonal covering role to either pick up forward runs or cover behind his 2 DCs (I suggest Varane/Carvalho).
The FBs are there to stop forward runs by wide players. (I suggest Marcelo on left side and Lass on right side – Lass will have the duty to track Iniesta if he leaves his wide position and goes inside).
Midfield:
2 DMCs – 2 MCs
The DMCs are ball winning defensive midfielders (I suggest Altintop to the right and Coentrao to the left). The MCs should be good passers/keepers of the ball as they have the role of picking up the ball and starting/maintaining attack (I suggest Xabi Alonso and Kaka).
Attackers:
1 FC
Energetic forward taking wide or central positions and creating pressure on Defenders. Has to be substituted in the second half to maintain the energy/running levels (I Suggest Ronaldo then Benzema).
One forward to pressure Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Valdés? Something’s gonna fail… Anyway, a 5 – 4 – 1 it is a catenaccio way to play Barcelona, you’re gonna try to resist them, probably in a final it’s the safetier option. But, a team like Madrid can’t (and their supporters won’t let) to show this image.
As a ”fantasy team” it is a nice try…
Well, a team like Madrid (and their supporters) will not really enjoy winning la liga if they lose to barca twice in the league, twice in the copa del rey, and twice in the champions league either
let’s wait and see what Mou comes up with for the next leg. If he goes out for an all attack formation, i’m afraid barca might win it 5-0 like last season (along with the humiliating display). If he goes for parking the bus and gets a draw (or even a 1 goal win) then i think RM fans would be pleased and would expect that tactic to be deployed again in la liga next match.
ps. speaking about fantasy, that’s how i play barca in Football Maanager
Guardiola again outclassed Mourinho. End of. Barcelona made the most expensive club team in history look like a bunch of cheating butchers.
Also good the world now saw part of why Spanish referees will make sure Madrid will win La Liga this season: Pepe and co can go on kicking everything around without being punished for it.
When Barcelona get in the zone, I’m convinced no set of tactics can stop them. It’s a given, but they have too many technically gifted players. And I know it’s goals what matter, but Madrid were at home and had 27% of the ball. That’s bloody embarassing. I know Barcelona will always have more of the ball, but 73% of it at the Bernabeu is ridiculous.
To be fair, Madrid did one thing right in this game & that was obviously exploiting the space Alves left. But that was it. That was there only route, and in the second half, they didn’t even have that route. An easily won tactical victory for Pep, by telling his fullback to stay back a bit more.
The main problem in this Classico was Real Madrid’s defensive line , they were too narrow in the right , Altintop left Iniesta too much space , wich was disastrous with two goals coming from that side ( the corner was caused by space left to Iniesta wich forced Altintop to conceid the corner kick )
What Mourinho could’ve done : Bring back Ramos as RB , Pepe as CB alongside Carvalho , and Altintop would come back to his position
Another alternative : Change Lass and Altintop positions , Lass could press Andres Iniesta far better than the turkish international
Real madrid were outplayed. There Central defense didnt seem a good partnership, with Carvalho seeming a weak link, dragging the defense back as he wasnt confident with his lack of pace (ala Ferdinand). I would rather have seen Pepe with Ramos, both playing a high line and pressing the forwards. I think the defense needed to play high up to help the midfield, which competed well before being spread too much. I also would have liked Coentrao to push up and get forward more, to expose alves. But like i said the midfield played well, with Pepe sticking to Messi and disrupting his game, Diarra doing the same with Xavi and Alonso watching fabregas’s runs forward. Alonso didnt press fabregas though, which meant he could get on the ball and cause some damage, which just shows you cant stop all of Barca, press xavi and Messi and Fab is left with space.
But leaving Busquets free was smart, he was the least dangerous midfielder in possession, and that meant Barca could dominate possession, but not open up Madrid as much. That was until the defense dropped back leaving too much space to cover for the midfield.
The front three did okay as well, Benzema was dangerous though negated well by abidal. Ronaldo was highly dnagerous (his goal showing what he could do when given space) and he played a smart game, instead of staying high up, he dropped back to cover Alves and then broke with speed. This is probably the best way for him to play Barca when up against Alves. Higuain was a bit disappointing with his hold up play, constantly losing the ball, but he gave a good ariel threat and won long balls forward.
Ozil coming on was the final straw, with Madrid completely losing the midfield battle.
Lesson for Real madrid: Play a high line to help out the midfield, Stick with a pressing physical midfield, let Ronaldo track back and then break at speed, Dont play Carvalho or Ozil in the Classiccos as both have a terrible record against Barca.
“But leaving Busquets free was smart, he was the least dangerous midfielder in possession, and that meant Barca could dominate possession, but not open up Madrid as much. That was until the defense dropped back leaving too much space to cover for the midfield.”
I remember reading ZM after the league fixture in December and there were several observations opining that Busquets was the key in Barcelona’s victory then. Contrary to your observation, I think you are wrong. Busquets is a puzzle Real has not solved.
Granted, the other choice (i.e. leaving Xavi free) is worse. Quite simply Barcelona’s midfield is a juggernaut and at the moment no team can respond to their technical and tactic speed with the ball. Their intelligence as a midfield is unprecedented in soccer history. You can now add Thiago and soon Sergi Roberto to that mix.
Football is being served a summons: evolve or dissolve…your choice. Ferguson admitted as much last spring.
Perhaps Busquets was the least dangerous midfielder offensively for Barcelona, but that’s comparing him to Xavi, Cesc and Iniesta. Busquets is a tremendous tackler compared to the other midfielders and an excellent interceptor. He reads the game excellently.
I also think his offensive presence is under-appreciated. He initiates most of Barcelona’s attacks playing out of the back. He is patient, and looks for simple passes unlike his counterpart in Alonso.
Busquets is The Dark Knight… I would recommend everyone that sees “nothing” on him, to watch the match again and look only Busi and his actions.
It is the most underrated player in this Barcelona, he always does a tremendous job covering/marking the typical role of trequartista, look Ozil on December’s Clasico, and Sneijder on WC final.
And the most important thing is how easily pass and move the ball, this kind of speed gives Barcelona a plus, imagine Mascherano in that position, I love his sense of position and tackling skills, but Barcelona’s game won’t be fluid like it is right now with Busi.
One of the typical errors that many teams do is to give freedom to Busquets, he’s calmly and intelligent. Espanyol and Pochettino did a nice job man marking him (Sergio Garcia did it), yesterday Higuain had to do it, but I think that even Higuain understands how important is to mark him and doing this task efficiently.
It is not the 3rd, even the 6th or 7th “MVP” of this team, but he is the Scottie Pippen that every great team needs.
I agree – except the Scottie Pippen part. Are you mental, Pippen was the second best player – far above anyone else on the Bulls not named Jordan. Pippen is comparable to Xavi in that he was a superstar and one of the best players of his generation, though playing second fiddle to THE best player of his time.
But that’s way off topic.
Yes, probably I didn’t find a good comparision, but I think that you get my point.
busquets in rodman
i love it
nice said! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wlxhqZ9-SA <- this is what I was referring mates…
I whole heartedly agree, Busquets is a world class player, and leaving him free meant he ensured Barca dominated possession. But Barca were allways going to dominate possession against Real Madrid, Madrid need to realise that. So they needed to press the midfield, but they cant press everyone, so they needed tho choose correctly.
Xavi and Messi were chosen to be pressed, which i think is the right decision. Busquets isnt the most creative player when in possession and isnt likely to open up madrid like xavi or messi can. There were various problems though. The defense dropped deep which meant more space for the pressers to cover, Iniesta was left free (the third player needed to be pressed) and Fabregas was left free (with his forward runs tracked instead).
This is the problem when facing Barca, Stop xavi and Messi, and Fabregas and Iniesta are left with time on the ball.
An additional note regarding Busquets’ pivotal yet under-appreciated role: During last season CL final against MU, we can witness also superbly adapting tactics by Barca players in response to dynamics in the pitch. In the first 10 mins or so, MU players pressed intensely whenever Barca men had the ball, resulting in Barca can not dictate the tempo and the possession statistics is more less balanced. Then a slight change happened, unobvious yet significantly changed the game, where Busquets, which previously operated behind the midfielders, moved in front of Xavi to protect him from direct harassment by MU players, so he can set the game’s rythm more calmly. And you know the rest. FYI, I weren’t aware of this important change myself, but it was written by someone (a girl!) who observed this only after replay.
ill stop watching the football live and only watch the replay after reading the ZM, i want to educate my eyes
Barca Points:
1/Keep Puyol on Ronaldos side to help out Alves
2/ Xavi and Messi were dealt with well untill the Madrid defense dropped deep
3/Fabregas played a good game, while he didnt get into the penalty area as much (alonso tracked his runs well) he got a lot of time on the ball and played some great passes (lack of pressing from Alonso)
4/ Iniesta was very dangerous as the RB didnt press him, leaving him free with time on the ball.
5/ Alexis lead the line excellently, not through his pace (though that was a big threat) but by his brilliant hold up play, he was rarely tackled and got other barca players into play, especially Messi and Iniesta.
Great analysis as usual ZM..
Madrid played one of the worst matches defensively.. the marking in set pieces was horrible, a totally new backline is a disaster against Barcelona and it really could have been 3 or 4 goals on another day.. How Mourinho chose such a back 4 is surprising..
Adding to that, they completely switched off after the first goal for Barcelona. Alonso played the worst game of the season.. Can’t wait to see Sahin in the role in the future.. He comes from Dortmund who know something about pressing and can be handy in the Alonso role.. Pepe in midfield worked till he got the early yellow card..
Madrid tried to pass the ball around in the final third instead of crossing.. which was surprising considering the best chance to scoring came from a cross from Altintop..
Barcelona were also not at their fluent best compared to some other games but did their homework well with the set pieces.. I feel Casillas should have done better for the second goal though.. The second leg will be interesting.. Madrid need to play similarly but has to aim for better crossing and more importantly better composure.. If Arbeloa, Di Maria and Khedira returns, it will help them.. Alonso is a total waste..
Ronaldo had so much space at the start and Madrid should have concentrated on building their attacks in that side. Ronaldo wasted the second chance trying to please his critics when he chose to pass instead of taking on the defenders..
Regarding Ozil, he lacks a Schweinsteiger behind him as in the German NT where every attack is routed through him.. May be Sahin could play that role in the future.. Alonso is more interested in hitting a long diagonal ball than passing the ball through the midfield..
“Ronaldo wasted the second chance trying to please his critics…”
I guess what you wanted to write is: “Ronaldo wasted the second chance trying to please his ego”.
I found the part interesting where you said that they dropped deeper, but not deep enough to stop the ball over the top. Is your implication that there is basically deep (good) high (good) middle (bad since you still concede the opportunity to get behind the defence)? I think I’ve seen quite a lot in the EPL this season teams “switching” from a very high line to a very deep line depending on the match, Chelsea for example have flipped a lot imo. I think the other point is that with a high line you deny the opposition space and time to play the ball which penetrates between the keeper and the centrebacks, whereas with a midline you both allow some time and allow enough space for the ball to be possible although more difficult.
I don’t understand why Mourinho doesn’t just play Chelsea style and sit deep as hell all match and play for the counter. In Ronaldo he has one of the best counterattacking players in the history of the game IMO (as a United fan too).
“I don’t understand why Mourinho doesn’t just play Chelsea style and sit deep as hell all match and play for the counter. In Ronaldo he has one of the best counterattacking players in the history of the game IMO (as a United fan too).”
I think the reason is more political and cultural. RM, specially the fans, wouldn’t want their team to play like Chelsea, they have the players to play “more attractive, attacking football.” Spanish culture doesn’t particularly like their team to sit deep, they’ll get whistled lol.
Exactly–remember that RM fired Capello (2007?) after he had brought home their first title in several years because of the pragmatic way he had them play.
Iniesta And Xavi were excellent as usually. Espec Iniesta some of his touches/control were great to watch. Plus it was brillant to watch from the bird-eye view to see how the players were postionally
I thought madrid should of drop pepe back into defence and put granero in midfield. Granero would of been able to do the “dirty work” but still would of been able to pick a pass. Sometimes when pepe broke forward his passing was rushed which allow Barca regain possession quickly which put madrid under pressure.
What has happened to Sahin??? He would of helped madrid keep possesion. With Alonso he isnt usually a “destroyer” more like a deep-lying playmaker. So when he asked to play that role isnt able to play his natural game
Last year henever ZM reviewed games where Coentrao played he sounded like the best LB in the game, and now I never hear a pep about him.
Also, what could Nuri Sahin have been thinking? he could have been winning the bundesliga again playing every game, and instead he’s on the bench.
Coentrao should have joined Bayern München when they wanted him before this season. That would have been a team that are able to PLAY football, in contrast to Real Madrid.
Sahin should have stayed in Dortmund and played his first CL season there. Bad manager he obviously has.
In the case of Coentrao Bayern decided he wasn’t worth the asking price in both summers they pursued him (instead they signed Rafinha who is hardly much worse on the cheap).
In the case of Sahin he had an absurdly low release fee in his contract and apparently some sort of affinity for Real Madrid. Still an awful choice on his part.
I think Bayern were willing to pay something like 20 to 30 MEuros for Coentrao, but he was determined to join Madrid instead. Probably because of Mourinho being there in case he would become Portugal’s national coach.
I don’t remember how much Rafinha cost, but up to now he has not convinced me at all. This season so far Boateng looks much better as right FB, and that him being naturally a CB…
Real Madrid had just two shots on goal in this game! Ronaldo’s goal was suspect against a slower keeper in Pinto than they normally field in Valdes. Also, Pique did a poor job of pressuring Ronaldo’s shot.
Similar to the League fixture, I am hearing about Real’s upper hand or superiority, yet I’m not seeing it. Both of these games were won by the superior team statistically, technically and tactically…period! Real is to be commended for trying all variety of approaches to figuring out Barcelona, varying from high pressure to conceding possession. They have even tried to buy, with a bigger budget, the world’s best remaining players to stop Barcelona. But the superior team, despite the wishful thinking of many, is and has been Barcelona in each of these games.
Ronaldo gets the least bit active (i.e. does his job as a professional), makes a couple of tackles and he is over praised! I’m not buying it! Granted, the counter attack always looks dangerous, but so does it against almost every team Barcelona plays.
That Ronaldo scores against Barcelona on a rapid counter attack (i.e. does his job as a professional), doesn’t a great player or a great effort make. I implore folks to rewatch the game and reassess his overall performance. He wasn’t even the best player on Real Madrid’s team yesterday. He makes sloppy passes, and created only a single dangerous play for Real. As pointed out in the article, the other shot on goal was initiated by Lass and Altintop and Benzema.
When Getafe beats Barcelona, we don’t rush off to say they are better than Barcelona, because we can rationally surmise that (all things being the same) 9 times out of 10, Barcelona beats Getafe. Yet, somehow, even when Barcelona has consistently beaten Real Madrid (five times in the last nine matches with three ties and only one loss) people audaciously claim Real Madrid is outplaying Barcelona.
Barcelona plays their style of game each and every time they square off against Real Madrid and they have not been beat but once doing so. Their only loss, the Copa del Rey final last April, was a game in which Madrid did not outplay Barcelona, but that for bad luck and some lack of precision Barca put Madrid in a position to snatch a win from a better team…which is exactly what happened.
I never get the sense watching these two teams play that Madrid is in control of the game or that ultimately it is poised to win. Quite the opposite, I watch the game and observe a soccer team (FC Barcelona) who is a lot like UFC fighter Anderson Silva who feels out his opponents for the first few moments of the game and then strikes. Barcelona is often accused of starting slowly, but they that hasn’t prevented them from unprecedented success. I never get the feeling they are going to lose against any team although it does inevitably happen. Instead, I sense that they are masters of their trade and figuring out a puzzle that they will eventually solve.
Madrid is just another puzzle…but they are also increasingly a predictable one and without sufficient challenge (Mourinho is simply owned by Guardiola) for Barcelona, save the physicality of Madrid’s players who are fast and powerful. So if all Madrid has to offer is occasional blasting counter attacks and set pieces, I don’t expect Barcelona to lose to them except when they are exposed by their own risk-taking.
Yawn.. wake up Barcelona fanboy.. No one is saying that Madrid are better than Barcelona head to head.. They may probably win the league due to better consistency than Barcelona especially in the away games.. In head to head, they need better composure and better defenders to beat them. Madrid’s current defense is not disciplined enough like Inter. The problem for them is that they do not need such a discipline against any other team in the league and it is literally impossible for the coach to install such a discipline for only 3 or 4 matches in a season.. I think Mourinho would have more games with Inter against Barcelona than with Madrid in the same number of games.. So Madrid’s plan is to win the league even if they don’t beat barcelona.. In cup competitions, they need to find the missing piece.. In one game they fail to finish the chances and in the other, they defend poorly..
Yawn…wake up Hypothetical boy. The world you describe doesn’t exist on paper or in fiction. Mourinho with Inter this…and discipline that…
You say “it is literally impossible for the coach to install such discipline for only 3 or 4 matches a season,” but this doesn’t seem impossible for Guardiola.
I’m not sure you even believe what you are saying. Because the next sentence you say Mourinho could do it with Inter…que? quoi? what?
Moving on…
I second Marck’s yawn….
I second woodyche. Marck please, Barcelona has twice the chances or shots on goal than RM every game, every game. For example in copa del Rey..RM won playing like parked bus, but it could easily ended up 3-2 for Barca, but casillas is the best goalie.. so every body knows that when your goalie is the STAR of the game because of all the saves, something is not working right.
Wake up playing the error to score … it’s not gonna cut it. it didn’t work in liga when valdez f’ed up… did it?
RM playing like this, might, it just might win 1 out of 7 or 8 times, such is the case. won copa del rey, has not won again..
Even Milan which style of play is always Italian way, has managed to play WAY better games vs Barca this year in CL..
pls visit:
http://nlru.blogspot.com/
Madrid fought well, I am impressed with good preparation of Barcelona. Barcelona prepare good pattern of wing-play for this game. Puyol’s goal is pretty good pattern play. It seems like Mr Mou prepare good defensive tactic against Barcelona. Three Violante work very well but you cannot keep doing 90 min. Real need few good midfielders I guess and how about good forward who can hold the ball a bit and do some post play ,ala Drogba.
Haven’t read the previous comment so I don’t know if anyone else has already said it, but reading between the lines from ZM’s analysis I think the conclusion is evident: Whatever you might throw at them, this Barcelona team are simply unplayable. And that’s how this era of football will come to be defined…
I think there is only two ways to stop Barcelona – close down and press their whole midfield line (which is probably impossible), or try to collect the squad, who is capable to do something similiar as Barca does – lot of great at off the ball + intelligent midfielders and great defensive midfielder, good at holding, ball deploying and capable to play at CB. And an energetic winger. If I could pick up freely, I would choose such as team:
Aguero
Rooney
Sneijder Silva
Bale
J.Martinez
Vertonghen Kompany Ramos
Lot of movement at midfield, + Rooney who likes to play deep, quick Aguero up front.
ML – in my opinion, there is only one way to stop Barca’s magic. And that way is not to build similar team. It won’t work. Barca has more experience in playing that way (1) and they have the best players to play in their system (2). The best way to stop Barcelona is to combine Chelsea’s and Inter’s styles and build extremaly energetic, tireless team, capable to press on Barca for 90 or even 120 minutes. It is the only way and it worked, both in Inter and Chelsea (ok, Barca with Deco and Ronaldinho was different team, but still it worked). Of course, such team wouldn’t have 70% possesion against Barcelona, but still they could be in control. My team would be:
Maicon Thiago Silva Kompany Bale
Modric
Essien Boateng
Tevez Rooney
van Persie
Such team would have enough energy to press agressively on Barca. They would also have enough energy, pace and firepower up front to score. Defence, protected by Essien and Boateng should play inteligent, quite high, but responsible line. Both fullbacks should dominate the flanks. Such team could both counterattack or patiently build up their moves by Modric playmaking ability. They wouldn’t get tired after 60 minutes of the game. And if Barca’s players would loose patience and try to score quickly by increasing the tempo, our fantasy lineup would benefit from it – the quicker the game is, less important technical skills are. They would also have enough willingness of win and character to attack Barcelona, not only defend and pray.
Trying to duplicate Barca’s style is pointless – they are number one in the world in it. But still they have some weak (weaker) points.
Goalkeeper (shoots from long distance by Rooney, Tevez or midfielders) is the first one.
Second one – fullbacks. Alves is playing ridiculussly high, what should be used against Barca.
Third one – lack of assurance by defensive midfielder. Busquets is really got with the ball, but he can’t be matched with such players like f.e. Essien in terms of defending. So, behind Barca’s brilliant midfield, between them and defensive line, there is a huge space protected only by one man. And that’s why Rubin Kazan have won the game – their players were told to shoot on sight.
Fourth – their high line. During current season, Chelsea has suffered a lot by playing high line. With such players as van Persie, Rooney and Tevez upfront, Barca would have to play deeper or suffer becouse of quick counter attacks (but counterattacks in Mourinho’s Inter way, played not from defence but from midfield).
Fifth – their lack of ability to play well without the ball. Barca is the best team in the world. With the ball. Without it, they are still great side, but surely not invincible. They are not used to such situations. And with players like Modric (who can play triangles with both Bale or Maicon) or van Persie, our fantasy team should have at least 40% – 45% of the ball possesion. That’s enough, especially becouse such lineup would be probably even better without the ball.
So, in my opinion, Mourinho should give up the plan of playing ’sexy football’ against Barca and try to dominate them by playing extremally agresive pressing with pack of energetic players on the field.
Duplicate was an spontanious idea. The thing is, to play 4 or even 4+1 (with deep lying forward) in midfield, in diamond as some already mentioned it. You are wrong in some points.
1. You are forgetting that FCB may change formation fluently. With such as offensive-minded full backs, they may simply play with wide wingers and you are out
2. There is no chance to play a hard pressing for 90 minutes. Really, all players are extremely trained and there were no team yet which could play with such as strategy – if it’s possible, then somebody would have played it already.
3. I would rather tell that Barca without the ball is the key. They are extremely great WITHOUT the ball. That is the point
4. I see the point with Alves hole, so as you can see, Im suggesting to play with an offensive left winger, who can exploit that area.
I think it’s clear. You MUST have strong midfield, try to cut down Barca possesion to 60%, and you’re nearly home. Chelsea’s Essien-Ballack-Deco-Lampard quattro have already shown it in the past.
Baaaaaaahahaha! Hilarious!
Maybe you could throw The Kaiser in there too!
I’m not quite following your point that Barca have a bad keeper – are you assuming this is a Copa game and they’re using Pinto? Valdes has been better than Casillas statistically for the past 3 years, and nobody is going to call San Iker a liability!
Probably the midfield diamond is one of the most problematic systems to Barcelona. I remember Chelsea with that beastly midfield with essien, makelel, lampard and ballack, cause a lot of problems to them. 4 midfielders who can pass, pressure, sonme tactical knowledge and a lot of stamina and great work rate. Pedro Santos was saying Milan too, and that´s true. Milan create a lot of problem´s with that strong and experienced midfield. Forget the wide players, it´s the strikers with mobility who do that job. The four midfielders maintain positions and sometimes the “trequartista” advance to attack with the two fast strikers. One of the strikers should return to midfield when is without the ball, just like rooney does. (Sorry my english).
That´s a possibility.
The close diamond in the midfield.
Midfield with Khedira, Xabi, Lass and Kaká and Benzema and Ronaldo in front.
That would be awesome!
And a decent right full back…
> That would be awesome!
Ha. Just for you, I hope Mourinho plays that lineup next week at Camp Nou.
Xabi can’t compete against any of the Barca midfield, and Kaká is the last man to maintain focused pressure on Busquets for any significant time in the game. Lass and Khedira contribute nothing offensively.
I’m not a Madrid fan, but any lineup that doesn’t include DiMaria and Ronaldo out wide will not be able to threaten Barca.
lass and khedira were there to press and kaká to final definition and passing to ronaldo and benzema. And of course ronaldo would fall to the left. They could do it with ronaldo as a “false” nine, that uses the space that daniel alves leave behind, and benzema, who as good pass, and now works for the team and could stay between busquets and pique.
Real need De Rossi.
In recognition of Cogito’s excellent observations it seems to me Mourinho over-coaches to the extent it robs players of any latitude to adjust in response to changing circumstances during the game.
He is too organised to face up to this chameleon called Barca; his teams are too structured.
He is very meticulous and likes to forsee any tactical change the opposition are likely to make during the game and briefs his players accordingly.
When faced with such an un-orthordox side of highly intelligent players who seem determined to challenge every rule that everybody else assumes inviolate, such structured briefings become an impediment.
I think he has tinkered with his teams (against Barca) too much for there to be any continuity
best analysys that i ever read of mourinho vs Barça so far.
Real tried to park the bus, but they did not park it properly.
ZM, if you were given an unlimited supply of money and asked to pick a club to which you would make the changes you felt necessary to beat Barcelona, which would it be and what changes would you make?
Manchester City:
neuer
maicon, thiago silva, chiellini and bale
essien
de rossi schweinsteiger
sneijder
aguero rooney
Probably the only team to beat Barça, but doesn´t exist…
That’s exactly what Real is trying all the time: buy excellent players and more excellent players and still more excellent players… and it is not working because they are not playing as a real team. And they never will because of the constant changes.
Random example: Kaká makes one good game and Mourinho brings him from the start in the next game. Then makes a not so good game and will be dropped immediately. And so on and so on and so on…
it’s not about personel but tactics…barca would play the world eleven off the park unless their tactics were something special to contain barca and get enough possession to score.
I think the most appropriate way to cause Barcelona real problems is counter their system. First of all there must be a particular man-marking plan in the midfield. Lass or Khedira pick up Xavi, Pepe picks up Messi and Xabi Alonso picks up Iniesta (it is generally acceptable that Iniesta is the least defensive minded midfielder of Barcelona meaning that Alonso will be having decent time on the ball). In defence, a regular Real plan would do (even so if Coentrao is comfortable right he is the right man to pair with Marcelo as full backs). Further upfront, on the left there would be Di Maria, Real’s most hardworking winger with the ability to be more defensive-an effective strategy against Dani Alves- and in the right wing Benzema (who is more offensive)could get into the box exploiting Abidal’s less attacking approach. And finally, Ronaldo with a false nine role to come deep and enforce the midfield but also at the same moment give Busquets someone to mark and therefore effectively restrict everyone of Barcelona’s ball-palying midfielders from having too much space for a good pass. Busquets was the man to keep Barca having their usual dominance in possession by being unmarked. This way there will be no-one and so Barca will struggle to keep possession (simply the most fundamental step to stopping them since this is the way they come up to dominate their games).
“for a Mourinho side”? Maybe we’re all overestimating him, his defeats are way too many against Pep. I think Mou should take some lessons from the way Rafa Benitez played with Liverpool in UCL against Barca a few years ago.
brittish people are dumb…
we are cules and you only could look to our football an be quiet
LOSERS,,,, ROONEY AND ALL THAT SHIT…..
WHAT A LOSERs
I take it that the “98″ in your handle refer’s to the year of your birth?
I just think that it is VERY ridiculous to have Christiano Ronaldo playing D and worrying about Alves marching down. When it should be the other way around. Helloooo, Alves SHOULD be worrying about C.Ronaldo. He scored a goal when that was the case, as soon as it was the other way around Ronaldo marking alves, Ronaldo didn’t do anything else (aside from looking like he was hurt)after the 15th minute.
it’s quite pathetic.
http://opitacoboleiristico.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/os-aspectos-da-vitoria-do-mgladbach-contra-o-bayern-de-munique/
About M’Gladbach’s win over Bayern Munchen.
I think one of the main problems is barca’s constant shape changing. If you sit back and focus on keeping shape, and asking them to break you down, you concede alot of possesion. If you come at them you leave holes behind your defence. Pick your poison really
Real Madrid as club dont want to give up the image of atrtractive play and reduce themselves to a negative approach, they want to win and win in style. Weather it means ricking another 5 nil loss they have to go for it.
When you press barcelona THEY WILL CHANGE SHAPE and find a way to overload somewhere on the pitch. thats how the 4-6-0 and 3-7-0 happened. Its jut the natur of their players and philosophy. I have heard a quote saying RM cant catch up because Barcelona had a 20 year headstart.
I think Bielsa had the right idea with man marking. How often do we see Messi, Xavi, Busquets or anyone else drop deeper to look for the ball without their opponent. You need versatile players comfortable anyhere on the pitch.
In defence this is my back 4
Lass-Ramos-Pepe-Coentrao
both fullbacks are comfortable in midfield, Lass would probs be chaising Inesta all over on the left Coentrao would have to deal with an overload of Messi, a bit of Fabregas, some Alves or neither. its best to stick him to one man I will give him Messi.
Ramos and Pepe have to contain Sanchez AND help Coentrao with Messi
In Midfield
any combination is goign to be a tough ask to contain cesc, xavi and busquets
If you play with Ozil he must do a job on busquets and have the other 2 centre mids get in the face of xavi and cesc constantly and everywhere.
Fowards
Benzema/DiMaria – Ronaldo – Marcelo
Marcelo vs Alves
Ronaldo almost a free role to attack where ever the weak zone is and occasionaly pressure Pique/Puyol
Benzema/diMaria work the channels
You want a match were only the least dangerous has the most time on the ball Abidal and Puyol are probably the 9th and 10th
You want them to win through individual brinlliance (a crazy Messi dribble) rather than a numerical advantage.
If you do defensive and really counterattaking this is my 11
Let their fullbacks free and clear any crosses
Lass-Ramos-Carvalho-Coentrao
Khedira-Pepe-Marcelo
Ozil
Benzema Ronaldo
Impresionante como siempre, Michael