Features
Three talking points from Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona
Saturday’s El Clasico was far from the game Real Madrid hoped to enjoy over their arch-rivals.
Barcelona arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu fresh off a win over Bayern Munich, one which was special to the club as it left them unshackled from the ghosts of Europe.
Hansi Flick’s men continued on the same run of form and completely busted Real Madrid with a humiliating 4-0 scoreline as Carlo Ancelotti’s side were completely outplayed in the second period.
Playing at the Madrid-based side’s den, Robert Lewandowski scored a brace while Lamine Yamal and Raphinha scored Golazos to establish the dominant scoreline.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona.
Battered and busted
To go down at the Santiago Bernabeu in itself is a rarity for Real Madrid. To go down against Barcelona is humiliating and to go down by four goals is simply an embarrassment of the highest level.
What unfolded last night at the Bernabeu was a ripping apart of the hosts at the highest level and Real Madrid had simply no chance against the visitors.
The game was equally fought for the better part of the first half. While Barcelona had the possession, it did not come without the hosts enjoying their chances.
As the half progressed, however, Real Madrid slowly fizzled out and the game turned around on its head after the break. With a few tactical adjustments, Flick decoded Real Madrid’s shortcomings and exposed them on the big stage.
After the half-time whistle, there was simply no contest as Barcelona broke down Real Madrid’s defence with ease. Defence-splitting passes, counterattacks, balls played over the top – the Catalans used a variety of methods to break the hosts open.
It is not every day that Real Madrid loses a game, but to get battered to this extent by the one team they despise the most is simply unacceptable. They were outclassed, outplayed and outdone with no excuses.
No answers to the gaping hole
Carlo Ancelotti’s tactics against Barcelona were well-known even before the game kicked off last night. With Hansi Flick’s side deploying a high defensive line, it was always clear that the hosts’ plan would be to capitalise on the same.
From the get-go, Los Blancos stuck to the same plan that was much-anticipated and looked to play the ball beyond the Catalans’ defence from deep positions. However, they failed to capitalise for a plethora of reasons.
For starters, Barcelona’s defence was extra-ordinarily disciplined and well-drilled in maintaining the offside trap.
Every time the hosts looked to push the ball forward, the defenders ensured to step forward and play the man making the run offside and the Real Madrid players simply struggled to decipher the code.
Kylian Mbappe found himself offside time and time again as he simply could not time his runs to perfection. Considering that his raw pace was superior to the Barcelona defenders, it is astounding that a player of his quality could not break down the defensive wall.
On the few occasions, he made it through, the Frenchman was poor in front of the goal as could not beat Inaki Pena. When he did find the back of the net, he was offside.
Vinicius Jr., the team’s second outlet in attack, was well-controlled by Jules Kounde and recorded no shots on target, only created one big chance, made one key pass and completed just one dribble against the Blaugrana.
Despite having the chance to capitalise on the high line in theory, Real Madrid had no answers to the opportunity presented to them. In the end, it turned out to be the factor that worked out the best in Barcelona’s favour.
Where do Real Madrid go from here?
Real Madrid’s performances have been worrying all season and the defeat in El Clasico was always coming.
The win over Borussia Dortmund midweek gave reason to believe and the momentum of the comeback win was expected to be enough to see the Merengues through. However, it was far from the case as the better side simply conquered and won.
The question that Real Madrid and Ancelotti must answer after the heavy defeat, thus, is simply – where does the team go from here?
Humbled in their own backyard, Real Madrid’s dressing room has suffered a massive blow after the latest defeat and it remains to be seen what impact it has on their momentum and confidence.
The calendar, however, gives them little time to recover as they face Valencia, AC Milan and Osasuna in their next three games, all within three days of each other. Should their poor form continue, there could be serious repercussions in La Liga and the UCL.
Ancelotti is thus forced to answer some crucial questions, especially over the team’s poor showing on the field in a tactical sense. The chemistry between Vinicius and Mbappe is far from perfect, with the Frenchman acting more as a burden than an outlet.
Solving the Mbappe puzzle and extracting the best out of him is the key to the team’s success. But again, there are big questions over the lack of creativity in midfield and the gaping holes in defence.
With their unbeaten streak in La Liga broken at the doorstep of history, the Merengues have been humbled and it will be interesting to see how they pick up.
Features
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.
