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Three talking points from Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid | La Liga
Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid fell to a 2-1 defeat against Barcelona on their first trip to Spotify Camp Nou after more than a year.
The Catalans had not won against the Merengues at home since 2018 ahead of the game but a clutch goal from Franck Kessie helped them turn around the record.
Vinicius Jr opened the scoring early in the game by forcing an error and own goal from Ronald Araujo. The hosts levelled the score in the 45th minute through Sergi Roberto, before the winner arrived in stoppage time.
The game was not without its share of controversy as Real Madrid had a goal disallowed for offside that Ancelotti felt was unfair. Madrid Universal brings you three talking points from the fourth Clasico of the season.
1. Quality of full-backs
Real Madrid have etched their names into history as one of the most deadly counter-attacking teams in world football. Their pacey transitions and shifts of play have traditionally progressed through the wing with unreal speed to catch the opponent off-guard even in a momentary lapse in concentration.
Needless to say, the full-backs have always worked in tandem with the team’s wingers to make such speedy counters possible. The glaring problem at Real Madrid currently is that their full-backs do not provide half as much as they need to.
Los Blancos’ counterattack now seemingly consists of only Vinicius Jr on the left wing making a quick transition to find Karim Benzema. With just one outlet, it is difficult for the men in white to be effective.
The story at Spotify Camp Nou was very similar. Dani Carvajal started as the right-back and had a good showing defensively. Yet, he was virtually absent in the final third and left Real Madrid’s right-wing lifeless. In ninety minutes, he managed no crosses or long balls and had just one key pass.
The story at left-back was equally, if not more abysmal. Nacho Fernandez was the candidate deployed in the position and could also not manage a single cross, long ball or key pass on the night. He was eventually substituted for Ferland Mendy but the Frenchman could not do much either.
The difference in the quality of full-backs between Barcelona and Ancelotti’s side is gaping. The Catalans blazed through the wings on the night with Ronald Araujo and Alejandro Balde who constantly got forward in attack to stretch the men in white. In response, Real Madrid had nothing.
2. A dead right-wing and lack of intensity
It is imperative for any top football team to have the resources to attack both wings, for it is the constant switching of play that triggers errors from the opposition. For a club like Real Madrid to not have such resources is criminal.
The game against Barcelona was completely predictable given that the Merengues’ right wing was nonexistent. Any attack, almost surely, had to come down Vinicius’ wing and this made Barcelona’s defensive work easier.
Dani Carvajal was barely involved in the final third against the Catalans. That, coupled with Federico Valverde’s atrocious showing as the right-winger removed one side of the field from Real Madrid’s game.
Valverde made just 27 passes in 76 minutes and failed to make a single cross on the night. Further, he recorded just one key pass and one accurate long ball in El Clasico.
When Marco Asensio came on for Los Blancos, the equation completely turned around. The winger came on as a direct replacement for Valverde and happened to score the disallowed goal that was millimetres from giving Real Madrid three points.
More importantly, the move for the aforementioned goal was completely down the right flank, a testament to the alarming situation.
3. Goodbye La Liga?
When the clock at Spotify Camp Nou struck 81 minutes, the race for La Liga seemed to be on. Real Madrid had just scored a possible winner and had cut short their deficit with Barcelona to just six points.
Ten minutes later, the scoreline read 2-1 in favour of the hosts. Their lead atop the league standings was suddenly twelve points with just 12 games to go.
History is witness that counting out Real Madrid does not fare well. However, it is difficult to surpass the supposition that the 12-point gap is too wide to bridge.
Los Blancos will continue to fight in the league, but Ancelotti will likely preserve his weapons for the UEFA Champions League where they face a bigger chance at glory.
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Clean sheet at last, Vinicius’ moment of madness | Three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal
Real Madrid took all three points against Villarreal on Saturday night to get back on track after the international break, and thus ensured they did not continue sinking after the defeat at the Madrid derby.
Jose Mourinho made some bold decisions in his starting XI as he benched Vinicius Jr., playing Yan Diomande on the left-flank and Arda Guler on the right flank.
The dynamics worked out decently well, and it was eventually the new record signing who scored for the club to hand them the lead and the win.
Compared to performances before the international break, there was an improvement in terms of Real Madrid’s level, but the team are still far off from where they must be to make a strong case to be title contenders.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal.
The struggle continues
All of Real Madrid’s season so far has been of struggles and difficult wins, and the same theme continued last night as the team returned from the international break.
Los Blancos have failed to look convincing for a long time now, and they did not dominate Villarreal in any capacity last night as well.
Continuing with the same theme of winning by narrow margins and scraping past the finish line, they registered yet another 1-0 win that did not leave anyone convinced.
Yan Diomande’s goal was the only positive takeaway from the night, and even that was made possible only after a narrow offside decision went in their favor. With the firepower they have, struggling to create chances to such an extent seems inexcusable.
With a difficult month ahead, last night’s game did not give fans any reason to believe matters have changed after the international break. At this rate, the coming month could be a bleak one for Los Blancos.
Vinicius’ moment of madness
Of all the events that transpired at the Santiago Bernabeu last night, the most memorable one was the incident involving Vinicius Jr.’s goal, and embarrassingly so.
Having seemingly scored a great goal ten minutes after Diomande’s opener, the Brazilian star was on his way to celebrate the achievement, but what unfolded thereafter was embarrassing.
The VAR found an incident of Vinicius pulling the hair of a Villarreal player for no apparent reason in the build-up to the goal, and at this point there can be no arguments defending the player’s behavior.
As one of the biggest names of one of Europe’s biggest clubs, there has to be a sense of responsibility in one’s role – something Vinicius simply does not seem to have. What he did last night was simply inexcusable.
A lot can be said about VAR’s selective interference, but what cannot be argued is that what Vinicius did last night was a clear red card offense.
He will now miss El Clasico and will serve at least a two-game suspension. Whether that is a boon or a bane for Real Madrid, at this point, remains unknown and only time will tell.
A clean sheet at last
Ahead of last night’s win over Villarreal, Real Madrid had only overseen one clean sheet in eight games across competitions.
In that sense, simply keeping the opposition from scoring last night was an achievement in itself for Los Blancos, and it could not have come at a better time.
Real Madrid entered the game without many of their regular defenders available, especially with Dean Huijsen suspended and Eder Militao and Raul Asencio out through injury.
Ibrahima Konate and Antonio Rudiger, thus, started in central defense on the night and both did phenomenally well for Los Blancos. They were joined by Alvaro Carreras and Trent Alexander-Arnold, both of whom complemented the duo well.
The right-back was a relatively weak link defensively, but Konate and Rudiger were spot-on with their reading of the game to keep the Villarreal attack from scoring. They both did eventually pick up yellow cards, but Villarreal finished the game without a single big chance created.
Finding defensive stability, which is the cornerstone of Mourinho’s project, is massive for the manager, and he will be pleased to have a new working formula.
What happens after Huijsen’s return, however, remains to be seen, as the manager may well like to hand the new duo some more chances to prove their consistency.
