Barcelona 1-3 Real Madrid (Fati; Valverde, Ramos, Modric). Here’s our quick reaction after the final whistle. Still to come: player ratings, post-game podcasts, post-game quotes, and much more analysis.
There were a handful of questions directed at this Classic, perhaps none more pertinent than: ‘Who could Zinedine Zidane start as Real Madridhind wings?‘Without going through the exercise of cycling all those options more than what we already had in the days leading up to this game, there is a point to make: no option was ideal, and each option had its risk. Without Dani Carvajal, the team loses a leader and a solid (and often underrated) two-way presence. Whoever was to take that assignment would need help to deal with Ansu Fati, as well as Jordi Alba’s bombings (which was initially a question mark).
Nacho was chosen and, unfortunately for him, his night ended after just 43 minutes after being forced to leave with a complaint. Lucas Vázquez entered. Zidane was left with his fourth-choice right-back.
It’s interesting to see how Real Madrid did with Vázquez on the pitch. With Nacho there, the team struggled defending the ball above him, and Fati enjoyed running towards Nacho. (It brought back bad memories of 5-1 at Camp Nou in 2018, where Nacho also started in that role and couldn’t cope.)
Vazquez has a tendency to play like a winger when playing right back, but he did very well to stay in position when he entered the field. He covered well, poked Messi’s pocket when the Argentine evaluated him in sequence, and provided a very good offense with accurate dribbling, passing, counter-pressure and crossing.
Defensively as a whole, Real Madrid went through a roller coaster with many drops and peaks. They didn’t push to start, and their defensive form was vulnerable, but towards the end of the first half, they held possession and scored their counter pressure, making it uncomfortable for Barcelona to control the ball with their foot.
From Barcelona’s perspective, their first half was also a mixed bag. The pressure they exerted on Real Madrid going out from behind forced Casemiro and Raphael Varane to make several draws. They did not dominate possession, but they did pass the ball to Fati and Alba in good positions. Messi, as always, made his surgical careers. Pedri, on the right flank, did not get heavily involved and came out in the 82nd minute, as part of a triple substitute that also featured Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembélé and Francisco Trincao.
Offensively, Real Madrid went ahead when they could. It could be argued that they should have done more. Marco Asensio was a passenger for most of the first half, until minute 36 where he made his first surgical run with the ball in transition and broke Barcelona. Before the break he had another good offensive streak. Real Madrid needed that from him before, although they finally got him to wake up. Vinicius on the opposite flank moved well off the ball and had a couple of big chances (a point blank that should have made it 2-0 in the opening minutes). Vinicius’s pass in transition was poor in the second half, it should be noted.
The distribution and ability of Toni Kroos to deal with pressure, along with the movement of Fede Valverde and Karim Benzema, were an integral part of Real Madrid’s ball progression in almost every attack sequence.
These are the two goals that made it 1-1 at eight minutes:
The second half was a whirlwind, culminating in a truly entertaining Classic. Barcelona started stronger and had more ball, but Real Madrid jumped on the wave and began to influence themselves with great chances in transition. Sergio Ramos scored a penalty and Luka Modric sealed the game late:
A much-needed win over Barcelona makes for a great Saturday. Enjoy the weekend and enjoy tonight’s podcast; we have a big one planned.
