The sensation on the ultimate whistle for the Blaugrana trustworthy was that of absolute dejection and disappointment after Barcelona had been outclassed in each side of their 2-1 defeat on the Santiago Bernabéu, writes Omar Hawwash, journalist and CEO of the Barça-focused information outlet Blaugranagram.
Within the final 4 head-to-head matches between the 2 La Liga giants, Barcelona have had Actual Madrid’s quantity, convincingly too, previous to Sunday’s matchup within the Spanish capital.
In hindsight, that will have been their undoing: the sense they may simply flip up, do the identical factor and count on the identical outcome.
Soccer doesn’t work like that. Groups evolve, techniques change and a failure to adapt means you’re left wanting in from the skin. Madrid have developed underneath Xabi Alonso and on Sunday’s proof, Barca will probably be peering over the fence at a Bernabeu title celebration come Could.
Fortune favoured Barca
We are able to’t even say Barca had been unlucky.
And whereas a lot of the post-match hysterics from the Catalan media has predictably targeted on the efficiency of referee Cesar Soto Grado and VAR Iglesias Villanueva, their affect on no account affected the result.
Certainly, it might need been loads worse.
Lamine Yamal did foul Vinicius Jr inside two minutes, though the officers didn’t imagine adequate contact was made to warrant a penalty. Madrid had three objectives chalked off – all rightly – whereas the penalty Madrid had been awarded was right with solely the brilliance of Wojciech Szczesny denying the irrepressible Kylian Mbappe from the spot.
The actual fact is Madrid performed with extra depth and function. Madrid broke the Barcelona midfield into items repeatedly earlier than penetrating the defence with alarming ease.
A brand new low for Flick’s Barcelona
Barcelona’s 4-1 defeat at Sevilla on October 5 was one thing we, at Blaugranagram, described as in all probability the worst efficiency in the course of the reign of Hansi Flick. El Clásico this Sunday beats that, and by a ways.
Towards Sevilla, the argument might be that Barcelona had come into the match complacent, given Sevilla’s current woes. Towards Actual Madrid, there isn’t any excuse to place up a efficiency as toothless and uninventive as this. The whole staff was extraordinarily static, joyful to go the ball in entrance of Madrid with out anybody prepared to make that killer run. Opposite to Actual Madrid’s assaults in transition, Barcelona very hardly ever had any runners in behind and, after they did, it was Jules Koundé whose first contact let him down, as he discovered himself by for the equaliser late on.
A midfield that on paper ought to have had the beating of its Madrid counterpart seemed fatigued, lacked creativity or any want to get ahead.
Time to concentrate on youth
Flick has a lot of labor to do with this squad, and even in video games like this the place your foremost 11 contains Ferran Torres, who traditionally is shaky when he performs from the off, the youth gamers must be utilised extra, giving them sufficient of a platform to be prepared for fixtures like this, when your foremost guard fails to carry out.
On this proof, Barca look a way from difficult for La Liga, by no means thoughts the Champions League. On the elite stage it comes all the way down to advantageous margins, notably in each bins. With Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr – we’ll save his antics for an additional day – Madrid have extra tempo and athleticism than Barca whereas the likes of Eder Militao and Dean Huijsen have extra know-how on the large stage than Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia.
That’s to not say issues can’t change and swing again in Barca’s favour. Nevertheless it’s one heck of a problem for Flick.
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