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We live in a world where it’s all about recycling – what can you do in a healthy, happy, and useful way with what’s left over? A message that the two Classic Coaches interpreted completely differently after Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou, leaving Ronald Koeman looking outdated and previously pressured Zinedine Zidane with the glitz of the modern, progressive man of the century. XXI.
– Ratings of Barcelona: Dest impresses in defeat
– Madrid classifications: Kroos, Ramos, Valverde 8/10 in Classic
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This was already a unique match in many respects.
Never before in the 245-game history of this classic competition have teams been coached by two guys who scored iconic goals in the Champions League final, Zidane in 2002, Koeman ten years earlier.
Never before has the Catalunya-Castilla clash been played in an empty stadium with 340 team members instead of 99,000 fans and screams.
Never before had the referee been able to look to his side and see his brother running the line.
Unique facts embedded in the DNA of Madrid’s 3-1 victory, meaning they have blocked Barcelona from the last three Classic (two wins and a draw) and prevented Lionel Messi from scoring for the sixth time in a row, their worst joint streak in this event. But it was something ultra-traditional that won the match.
The “how to use leftovers” factor.
Zidane’s team has not been resupplied this season, finances are what they are in a pandemic and ahead of what looks like a capture of Kylian Mbappé (probably for more than 150 million euros) next summer. But even after some good sales and loans, the French coach has a huge, muscular team.
Koeman has made it clear that he deeply regrets the absence of an absolute center forward, something he will try to remedy by buying Memphis Depay from Lyon in January. However, the Dutchman has a wide range of highly talented footballers, many of whom would be the envy of blue-band clubs around the world.
For that reason, even though the starting XIs were of great interest and importance, there was always the probability that each team would have to use their reserve resources to win this match in the later stages.
The point is, this should have been to Koeman’s advantage. The fact is that it was, clearly, Zidane’s advantage. It was the Frenchman who knew how to better recycle his resources and do the right things with the leftover product of his original XI.
The whole time Koeman sat and looked at the residue of his squad on the bench, but for a long time he rejected the idea of going green, fell into the trap of thinking that one should discard everything except shiny objects. Instead of adapting and reusing.
The consequences were harsh.
Let’s start with the losers. In a first half in which they possibly left the field imagining that they could have had a goal advantage, there were positive aspects. No doubt about it.
Not many 19-year-olds will make a Classic Debut as safe, important and impressive as Sergino Dest. He played as if he were 25 years old, as if facing Madrid was something common and, more importantly, as if Koeman had been correct in insisting that Barcelona abandon the deal they had closed to take on right-back Max Aarons from Norwich and file. instead, the Ajax defender.
1:09
Ale Moreno praises Sergino Dest’s performance in his first Clásico despite Barcelona’s 3-1 defeat.
His double blocking in the penalty area in the first half was overshadowed by the astute positioning that allowed him, time and again, to patrol behind Clement Lenglet and Gerard Piqué and, singlehandedly, prevent Madrid from leaving 1v1 against Net.
More positive? Yes. Ansu Fati shone. Not just because of his goal, but because of his footballing arrogance, his demand on the ball in front of his senior teammates, his knowledge of how to play with Messi (again), and the clear evidence that this is a phenomenon. Apparently, one who, although small and only 17 years old, can start his journey from left to center.
Jordi Alba, Neto, Lenglet and Piqué also hit the mark. But this is the beginning of the story of how Koeman failed where Zidane won the day.
During the entire first half, Pedri, an absolute diamond of a soccer player, did not have his day. He seemed significantly intimidated by the task at hand, failed to make an impact, and moved further and further away from the game.
Coutinho was worse. What happens to this guy who when he’s at Liverpool works, when he’s at Bayern he can cut the mustard, playing a secondary role in winning the triples … but when he’s around Messi he shrinks?
The Brazilian is a decent guy, he’s obviously talented and he’s the only current champion of the champions league in the Barcelona team, but he was very thin against Madrid. Prone to errors, not pressing or trailing, unable to make a significant difference and author of a rather unimpressive failure when presented with the opportunity to score a second Barca goal.
At half-time in a balanced game with the score at 1-1, these two players had, respectively, a passing accuracy of less than 50% (Pedri) and less than 60% (Coutinho), which is surprisingly poor for the footballers of his caliber.
Busquets also got off the beat, not for the first time. But it wasn’t simply that he lost runs for the ball or couldn’t get away from his man: he gave the ball away regularly, sometimes in desperately dangerous positions and often without being under what could be explanatory pressure from rivals.
If Koeman, by halftime, had featured Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann and Miralem Pjanic for these three, no one who had been watching could have said he was not in tune with the needs of the game.
Instead, the Dutch Barcelona coach waited until his team lost 2-1 with NINE minutes to make any changes. Absolutely strange. Especially after the display of bright, energetic and smooth passes that his team with Francisco Trincao and Dembélé had given midweek while beating Ferencvaros.
Now the champions.
Zidane has a habit of changing games from his bench this season. In this case it was crucial. Even winning matches.
Ignore those who try to tell you that Madrid was lucky, or favored by the penalty that Sergio Ramos scored. And why wouldn’t it. He is the player with the most Classic that nobody in history and his fifth goal in this game changed things, that’s something like 24 penalties in a row without fail. It’s a metronome.
What Madrid did was grow in the game, since their maturity and desire for victory surpassed Barcelona. Zidane’s team has been apathetic, short on energy and, frankly, has not been able to complete basic tasks such as pressing and running with his direct rival, hence his problems last week in the defeat against Cádiz (for the first time in history at home) and Shakhtar Donetsk (which could have been by a four goal margin if Thibaut Courtois hadn’t been brilliant).
Here they kept walking away, more and more confident, more and more sure that they would win, and once Ramos put The whites later on, they just didn’t stop for a second to consider going out of business.
On the issue of resource recycling, Madrid lost their right-back to injury for the third time this season (following Dani Carvajal and Álvaro Odriozola) when Nacho limped off shortly before the break, but Zidane’s replacement shone. Lucas Vázquez came in and it looked like he was a natural right-back, and also with an excellent reading of the game.
Advantage number one for Zidane.
This season he has had a habit of tapping a player on the shoulder, sending him into action and good things happening. It started at Betis (3-2 victory by 2-1 against) when Borja Mayoral, substitute, won the penalty that Ramos scored 3-2.
Against Valladolid, he sends Vinicius Junior in the 58th minute, and seven minutes later the 20-year-old Brazilian scores the winning goal. Outside of Levante, Rodrygo (remember the name!) Enters with 20 minutes to go and, in added time, provides the wonderful break-away assist pass for Benzema to score and kill the game for good.
As disastrous as Madrid’s performance against Shakhtar in the middle of the week was, he sent Vinicius in and scored a goal in less than a minute to start what he promised, and ultimately failed, to be a counterattack for a draw.
And the Classic? With the 2-1, Barcelona is clear and Zidane must be waiting, thinking, when will Koeman unleash the rhythm, experience and goal threat of Trincao, Griezmann and Dembélé? When, more importantly, will he trade Busquets for Pjanic, who will be a better pivot partner for Frenkie de Jong as the season progresses?
But instead of stroking his chin and hoping to “match” Koeman’s substitutes, Zidane rolled the dice and recycled his resources.
With Modric on the pitch for Federico Valverde, and 2-1 up at the Camp Nou with only about fifteen minutes to go, Zidane instructed his players to stay ahead. DO NOT close the game and defend.
There were stages in that last pitch of the game when Madrid’s ball carrier had five men in white shirts ahead: it was a “go kill” football.
It finally worked. Modric made a magnificent pass through Vinicius, who still had his legs for a sprint, Neto’s parry bouncing out. There were the two substitutes, first Rodrygo picking up possession and doing that beautiful thing, stopping and thinking for a split second, before facing Modric.
The Ballon d’Or winner did what Ballon d’Or winners do: He danced in one direction, sent Neto to the ground, and then doubled the ball from the outside of his right foot. It was sumptuous
He was underdriven and was something that was available to Koeman, who sent a cavalry charge of substitutes in the 81st minute, thus brutally limiting his impact. There are a million stories in a Classic and the debate will burn. But Zidane beat Koeman, despite starting out at a disadvantage with respect to the “extra” resources he had at his disposal to recycle.
It’s time for Koeman to go green. First with envy for the three points with which Madrid returns to the capital of Spain. Second, learn how to recycle your resources from the bank. It’s hot now, Ronald. And for good reasons.
