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Are you in trouble? Call it classic! Nothing like a clash against Barcelona to calm things down when Zidane is against the wall at Real Madrid. This Saturday, more of the same. The two teams reached the superclassic in crisis, played a surprisingly good game and ended with a 3-1 victory for Real Madrid.
Zidane arrives undefeated in six classics as Real Madrid coach at the Camp Nou: three wins and three draws. And of course, in Madrid things calm down and Real Madrid can continue its renewal with a little less tension in the air.
After the losses to Cádiz and Shakhtar, Real Madrid really needed victory before a new Champions League match (away from home, against Borussia Moenchengladbach). And Zidane “wins” Asensio for the starting eleven, after a great and complete performance in the classic.
Barcelona, on the other hand, is sinking more into a crisis that is institutional (board against players) and, of course, affects the field. Koeman tried a different formation, with Ansu Fati more centralized and closer to Messi, the young Pedri, 17, in the middle, and veteran Alba’s left-handed running back, back in the team.
At the beginning, even with the team settling into the new formation, Real Madrid took advantage of the gaps in the middle and reached 1-0 with Valverde. But Barça tied shortly after, in a shot from Alba, who crossed for Fati to score. It was a frantic first half, with chances for both sides and a lot of intensity.
In the second half, Barcelona were better on the field. Determined to seek victory, he played within the Real Madrid field. Coutinho had a great opportunity to turn the game around, but he left.
The play that decided the classic ended up being Lenglet’s child penalty in Sergio Ramos, pulling the shirt into the area. Ramos himself, Real Madrid’s most important player, scored.
The penalty is a penalty for new football, from the VAR era. Sergio Ramos feels the pull on his shirt and throws himself (towards the other side, included), he would not reach the ball, he was a center that would have gone to nothing. If the guy throws to one side and the player throws himself to the other, he was not knocked down by the pull.
But anyway, with the cameras capturing everything, the jerk of the jersey became an easy and objective play for the referees. There is no way for the VAR not to call and there is no way for the field referee not to score. I don’t like it, but it is what it is, the new football. Let the defenders learn their lesson.
Losing, Barcelona began to give space and took the third, Modric, in one of the several counterattacks that Real Madrid had at its disposal.
In the final minutes Griezmann, Dembélé and Trincão entered, but Barça’s luck did not change. Griezmann, apparently, is really divorced from Koeman and will hardly return to the team. The next on the list seems to be Busquets, who had a bad start and does not seem to have the legs to continue being the starter of Barcelona. Pjanic will likely have more minutes alongside De Jong in the middle.
At Real Madrid, Zidane, without right-backs, brought Nacho up there. The player’s injury forced the Frenchman to place Lucas Vázquez and, with him, the sector improved. Mendy started on the left and Marcelo seems to be going through the same process as Busquets at Barça. Glorious past, null future.
Asensio, who played a bad game against Shakhtar, won another opportunity and took it. Vinícius Jr started and it seems that he will be throughout the season, he has the confidence of the coach.
Each classic changes the rules of the game. Barcelona will accelerate the process of change and rejuvenation. Real Madrid, current champion and favorite for the title, continues its process with more tranquility for Zidane.
