Written By: Syed Farooq
Edited By: Matt Conciatori
Oct. 24, 2021 will forever be the day that football fans remember for rivals around Europe. Manchester United vs Liverpool, PSG vs Marseille, and Inter vs Juventus. However, you can't talk about European football rivalries and not mention the famous El Clasico, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Arguably, it is the greatest football rivalry of all time. They played each other at the notorious Camp Nou on Sunday, with the Los Blancos coming out on top with a 2-1 victory.
Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid Manager, had his XI-man set-up resembled a 4-3-3 on paper. Eder Militão and David Alaba were the centre-back duo, while Ferland Mendy and Lucas Vasquez were the full-backs. Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Toni Kroos was the trio running the midfield. Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr. were the wingers while Karim Benzema was in the attack playing as a False 9.
Even though this formation is known for being used with an attacking mindset, Ancelotti approached this game conservatively. The shape resembled a 4-4-2 when they were out-of-possession, with Benzema and Vinicius staying up-top for any counter-attacking opportunities. Rodrygo, who was playing the right-wing (RW), would have to drop deep to help on defense since Jordi Alba, the left-back (LB), played very aggressively on the left-flank. On the other hand, Vinicius Jr. didn't need to worry about helping on defense as much as Rodrygo due to the fact of Oscar Mingueza, Barcelona's right-back (RB), having to man-mark Vinicius Jr. and therefore staying deep to prevent any counter-attacking opportunities. This is part of the reason why 45% of Barcelona's attacks were from the left side. Nonetheless, even this tactic couldn't prevent Vinicius Jr. from irritating Barcelona's right flank.
Barcelona dominated much of the possession during the first half and praised crossing the ball into the box. They crossed the ball 34 times compared to Madrid's inferior 6. However, Madrid's defense remained firm, and Barcelona could not break through Madrid's defensive wall. Real Madrid waited for the right moment to attack Barcelona on the counter. Both of Madrid’s goals came from winning the ball in their own half and counter-attacking, particularly on the left flank since Mingueza couldn't keep up with Vinicius' pace.
For the most part, our defense was solid except during the 96th minute, where Mendy allowed a cross by Sergio Dest from the right-wing. This action was followed by Alaba accidentally slipping, which left Sergio Aguero unmarked and allowed him to finish the cross. Therefore, Madrid's defence had nothing to say as it remained rigid throughout the whole game except for one or two mistakes. After the game, Ancelotti gave his remarks, “Our counter-attacking is where we hurt them the most. We played a smart game. Very good at the back and very dangerous on the counter."
During the 32nd minute, David Alaba came forward to the top of the box to steal the ball from Memphis Depay, which led to the start of another counter-attack. He then made a wide side-way pass to Vinicius Jr. on the left side, but simultaneously continued his run forward towards the opposition's box. Vinicius Jr. then dribbled past Mingueza and made a lob pass towards Rodrygo, who had drifted centrally from the right flank. This pass instantly turned the attack into Madrid's favour with only two Barcelona defenders to compensate for three Madrid attackers: Alaba, Benzema and Rodrygo. The two Barcelona defenders turned their attention towards Benzema, who made a run towards the right side, which left Alaba wide open. Rodrygo then passed to Alaba, who carried the ball towards the top-left side of the box and struck it into the far-post. It was one of the best team goals I have yet to see from Real Madrid this season.
Although Vinicius Jr. didn't have a goal or an assist to show for this match, he put Barcelona in a lot of trouble through his pace and outstanding dribbling ability. Vinicius Jr. made dangerous runs on the left flank on several occasions where Mingueza couldn't keep up with his pace. The midfield then looked for long balls over Mingueza to find Vinicius on the run. He also combined his speed with his dribbling ability and often found himself at the forefront of a dangerous situation for the Barcelona defense. During one sequence, Vinicius Jr. dribbled through two Barcelona defenders who couldn't hold their own against him and tripped him in the penalty box. Still, the referee decided against giving a penalty. This particular sequence showed just how dangerous Vinicius could be and potentially could've won a penalty for the team on any other day. He completed the most dribbles (4) and was the most fouled player in the match (6 occasions).
Ronald Koeman, Barcelona's manager, had no choice but to sub off Mingueza at half-time. Instead, he brought on Philippe Coutinho and moved Sergio Dest to the right-back position, a much quicker option to neutralize Vinicius Jr., but that didn't change much.
By no means was this match entirely dominated by Real Madrid. One of the things that troubled Real Madrid the most was not being able to cope with Barcelona's high press system. The high press tactic is used to defend high up the pitch and emphasize gaining back possession of the ball in the opponent's half. This tactic is mainly performed by forwards pressuring the defenders and blocking passing lanes to stop the ball from progressing into their half.
Casemiro was the main player most affected by this system. Often, he misplaced passes while under pressure which led to dangerous situations for Madrid's defense. Casemiro's passing struggle was evident through statistics. Casemiro's passing success was a team-low 77%, which might not seem low on paper, but every pass counts when playing counter-attacking football.
Kroos, anyhow, was able to deal with Barca's high press effectively. At times, Kroos would often drop back into the left centre-back position, which would create a three at the back formation and outnumber Barcelona's forwards while pressuring the centre-backs. Using his extraordinary abilities to pass the ball under pressure, Kroos could take the game in his hand and control the tempo. Kroos seemed like the only midfielder who could deliver the ball through the lines between Barca's defenders. Onn the left wing to exploit Mingueza's inability to catch up with him, Kroos would often pick out Vincius Jr. on the wing. Kroos ended the game with an astonishing 98% passing success with 51 total passes.
Many fans and analysts have questioned whether this style of sitting back deep and counter-attacking style of football will be sustainable in the long run or not. It will be interesting to see how Ancelotti responds to a team with a high press system in future matches. Maybe he needs to look at the bench with Eduardo Camavinga, his energy and his ability to carry the ball through pressured situations. Who knows? The important part is that this was Carlo Ancelotti's first time winning a match at Camp Nou. Although it didn't come in a dominant fashion, Real Madrid were able to get the job done and secure the three points.
References:
Polo, P. (2021, October 24). Ancelotti: Real Madrid have a lot of quality and we have to enjoy this Clasico win. MARCA. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2021/10/24/6175aa2222601dea4f8b45a8.html
Barcelona vs Real Madrid in LaLiga. (2021, October 24). FotMob. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.fotmob.com/match/3629186/matchfacts/barcelona-vs-real-madrid
Barcelona 1 - 2 Real Madrid | Head to Head Statistics. (2021, October 24). WhoScored.Com. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1559861/Preview/Spain-LaLiga-2021-2022-Barcelona-Real-Madrid
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