Barcelona's fall in the Clasico

 

The best lesson that El Clasico always teaches to the world and to humanity is equality. Both teams have the right to claim victory in the match. Yes, whatever was the level of the two teams before the Clasico, and whatever was the condition of the team or its results still can win the Clasico.

The only difference between the two teams is how the players see the match, of course, Real Madrid sees the match as a matter of life and death. if they lose, Barcelona will move five points above. If Real Madrid wins they will lead by one point, and winning will give a fantastic morale boost to face City, which means the possibility of hitting two birds with one stone, stability in the League and the return of hope and ambition in the Champions League. 

If any Real Madrid player thought of these incentives, he added to them not winning at the Bernabéu against Barca in Laliga since October 2014, he will come out ready to war at any cost.

On the other hand, as technical staff for Barca, you will not find any incentives to motivate the players, will you tell them in order to maintain the lead, to widen the difference with Real, to continue the series of positive results at the Bernabeu, to dedicate the victory to Dembele and Suarez, or please, it is my first Classico as a coach and I want to win it? 

The only goal left is the motive not to lose against Real Madrid, and this is only a supporter motivator and not a rational stimulus for professional players.

All these ideas were embodied on the ground as soon as the match started, and it was clear the desire and determination of Real Madrid. If any football follower takes a look at the two teams’ benches, he will assert that Barcelona will undoubtedly lose in the second half, which is the coaches’ half, not because of Sittien, but because of the choices available. This means that Barcelona is required to score in the first half. 

There is no doubt that Setien entered the best possible squad, or rather, he has available. The idea of ​​playing with four midfielders is a good idea to counter the rush of Real Madrid in the attacking third. This tactic succeeded in the defensive aspect, especially in organized attacks, and despite some lapses in counter-attacks, the midfield was linked to the presence of Vidal.

 The negative point of this tactic is the offensive part. Vidal was never used to playing in such a position, as he did not find himself in the front, neither was he able to penetrate from the sides nor was he used to playing as an imaginary 9, so he remained lost, in addition to his lack of superiority in receiving the ball under pressure. 

Despite this tactical loophole, which Sittien seemed to be aware of, Barcelona managed to finish the first half equal with Real in the opportunities to score as if we were in a basketball match.

In the second half, Zidane reminded his players that they only have 45 minutes left, which means fighting to the last breath. After the first five to ten minutes of Barca's control of the match, the table turned and Real launched an attack that surrounded Barcelona. However, Barca was a coherent tactician until Setien took out  Vidal and entered the newcomer, Braithwaite, who was about to enter the history of the Clasico from the widest doors through an attack and semi-isolation that was not effective enough. 

Vidal's change is understood that the player is losing balls in bulk and does not contribute as required to the attack, and the incomprehensible thing is the inability of the Braithwaite player to perform defensive duties. If you repeat the shot of the first goal, you will find that Benzema pulled Semedo, who was an impenetrable dam on his side, to leave the space for Vinicius to move in it in the back of the defenders, and who was required to cover in that shot is Braithwaite, who facilitated the task of passing on Kroos and the task of moving for Vinicius. 

If the same shot had been repeated with Vidal instead of Braithwaite, the ending would have been different. It would have been better to sacrifice an attacking player who did not add anything to Griezmann than to bring out a midfielder who is skilled in defensive coverage. 

After the goal, it was clear and expected that Barcelona would collapse and could not resist or modify due to the absence of solutions and winning cards. Let's say that the match ended at that time. It remains to be noted that the teams that can separate Messi from the team, in the continued insistence of the entire team to pass to Messi, greatly reduced Barcelona's chances of winning or even scoring, unless Messi is in an unusual form. 

The thing that cannot happen in every Clasico or in every match. Barcelona will be able to win such matches the less they rely on Messi only and start focusing on the group and the entire offensive system.

On the whole, Barcelona was tactically present and this is something that has been long awaited and demanded by the fans during Valverde's era, which is an improvement. Fortunately, the loss makes them only one point behind Real Madrid, and the League still retains all its secrets if the technical staff took advantage of today's mistakes to correct in the rest of LaLiga matches and most importantly the Champions League.

Haitham Bakkioui