A third El Clasico doesn’t mean always the best El Clasico.
A third El Clasico doesn’t mean always the best El Clasico.A promising and colourful game of Real Madrid vs Barcelona was left only on paper, as Barcelona took a 2-0 advantage back to Nou-Camp for the returning match next week.
It was the ugliest of this series of El Clasicos, a disappointing display of disgraceful diving, terrible tackles, play-acting and ref-baiting. The result : Pepe, the leading actor of Real Madrid’s tactic, was sent off with a straight red card in the 61st minute with a tackle on Dani Alves, and his manager, Jose Mourinho, in short order followed his player, banished to the stands for protesting. Then took Messi over, put a one man show, scored twice and almost secured for Barcelona a spot for the Champions Leauge Final in Wembley.
Perhaps it wasn’t that suprising at all. When two sides so talented face each other so often in such a short time, you’re bound to see the ugly side of the game. Familiarity breeds contempt, two best managers attune their tactical approaches. And its not the performances of players on the pitch, but rather the tactics of the coaches that create the difference.
For Jose Mourinho the first ever El Clasico game this season on 26th November 2010, where Barcelona trashed Real Madrid with 5-0, had created immense pressure and problems for his tactical approach for the return game in La Liga. Mourinho put a very defensive-minded Real Madrid on the pitch, which resulted in a 1-1 draw, despite Real played with ten men they succeeded to stop Barcelona and shoved that Barca isn’t completely unvulnerable.
The one-legged match in Copa del Rey proved to be a triumph and -a well deserved one indeed- for Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho changed his usual tactic 4-2-3-1 into a 4-3-2-1 in this one, where he had installed the centre-back Pepe into the midfield and Mesut Ozil played in the starting eleven in place of ”defensive forward” Benzema.
The reaction of his squad to the 5-0 defeat and the stimulated players helped Real Madrid to lock down Barcelona ‘s midfield, their main weapon, in the first 2 games of this quartet of Clasicos.
The key players for Real Madrid in these games were Pepe and Mesut Ozil. That Pepe and Karim Benzema were on the pitch at the same time, obviously has created serious problems for Real Madrid’s play, the draw and arguably better play in the first match and the trophy after the second proved Real Madrid and his mastermind manager Jose Mourinho as victors.
At that point El Clasico and the inner dynamics of Spain should have been left back in the minds of managers and players alike. The Champions Leauge was a totaly different competition and challenge for both teams. And since Real Madrid was playing the first game at Le stade Santiago Bernabéu, Mourinho had to implement the tactics accordingly against a Inıesta-less Barcelona midfield.
If you play the first match on your home ground, you have to play for the win, so at least indicates the tradition of Champions League at that level.
Jose Mourinho preferred to let Pepe play in the midfield. And Pepe looked indeed battered, not because he played in 4 matches in a 10 day span, simply because of the fact playing in the midfield. He played in the centre midfield, right behind Christiano Ronaldo, so he could initiate team defence right in front of Barcelona penalty area. So Real Madrid played with a pure defender upfront, especially after Mourinho took Mesut Ozil out in the second half, what didn’t last long.
The first can best be summed up by what happened in the 17th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo came to a halt in the final third after losing possession. Turning around, clearly irritated, he remonstrated toward his teammates, only to find not the slightest clue of them, as they were all packed behind the halfway line. Poor Ronaldo — he forgot to read his prematch notes from Mourinho.
And that is how the first half went. Barcelona were allowed to keep the ball as much as they wanted in their half. As soon as Barcelona penetrated Real’s half, the tackles started flying in. Whenever one of Pep Guardiola’s players got anywhere near the goal, two players were all over him, closing him down.
Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos and Raul Albiol all worked good together, while Pepe acted as a shield in front of them.
But overall, the match was uglified by bad acting andl lack of ethics. In the 43rd minute, Sergio Busquets closed behind Marcelo and then just fell back to the pitch, clutching his face when absolutely no contact was made. Pathetic.
The referee sent Pepe off for a foot-up challenge on Dani Alves.
In the 57th, Pepe charged forward and was barely touched by midfielder Javier Mascherano. You would have thought that Pepe was trying to launch himself to the moon.
But the Brazilian-born Portuguese was hard done by in the 61st minute and received a straight red card for a foot-up challenge on Alves. Mourinho applauded Alves as he was carried off on a stretcher, as he seemed to say, “Well done” to the fourth official. Off to the stands he went. Pepe’ sending off was somehow a harsh decision, but it was so obvious, that it was coming. After Mesut Ozil was taken out by Mourinho, Pepe was biting the Barca midfield like a crazed lone wolf. Poetic justice that your defender sees the red card, while he tries wildly to tackle opposite players in front of their penalty area.
From Pepe’s sending off, Real had to battle with 10 men, and, predictably, Messi took over. He scored a classic poacher’s goal in the 76th minute after Ibrahim Afellay blew by a tired Marcelo and swung in a pass to meet Messi’s foot just a few yards from goal. Then, in the 87th, with Real Madrid’s back line, especially the slow and unagile centre-back Raul Albiol, sucking wind, Messi slalomed through a series of defenders. His teammates just stood back and watched, as the little flea eventually shot the ball back across the face of goal to give Barcelona a commanding two-goal lead. Oh my ! How pathetic Raul Albiol looked, while Messi danced around him.
Just like that, Madrid’s hopes of reaching Wembley were shattered. Jose Mourinho clearly came into this match, particularly in the first half, with a desire to play anti-football. After putting Emmanuel Adebayor on at the start of the second, there was hope that Mourinho would have his players be a little more adventurous. But his tactics backfired, the more Pepe’s role of a midfielder extends, the lesser Real’s chance to get anything from the remaining El Clasico.
Mourinho’s final words in the postmatch media conference, were that he is “disgusted at the world we live in,” that “no one has any chance against Barca like this” and that “yes, we have already been knocked out.”
Mourinho has lived by physical, defensive-minded football, and on Wednesday it turned to Anti-Football and killed him.
NationalTurk – Sports / John Steel
john-steel@nationalturk.com
