El Clásico: 10-12-2011

Ronaldo eyeing up Messi

The scene was set for yet another dramatic clash between the elite of world football.

A game which featured all three Balon D’Oro nominees, two thirds of the candidates for FIFA World Coach of the year award and two teams who between them could boast a collective score line of 138-23 in all competitions since they last crossed paths back in August’s Super Cup.

In midweek Pep Guardiola attempted to deflect the focus away from the enormity of his side’s encounter in the Santiago Bernabéu by speaking about how events elsewhere merited more attention than a mere game of football, namely those in Brussels, where the future of the Euro was being mulled over yesterday. Needless to say his efforts were in vain. As perilous a state as the EU finds itself in economically, the truth of the matter is that financial recessions just doesn’t generate as much passion or interest as El Clásico does.

Football’s most decorated club in recent years toe-to-toe against the most decorated club of all time - Real Madrid versus FC Barcelona - and, for the first time since becoming coach at Chamartín, José Mourinho found his team heading into the match as favourites.

Despite having been a different class coming into tonight’s game, los blancos will no doubt feel their recent surge in form a hallow consolation as once again they succumbed to the mesmerising football of their arch nemesis in a 3-1 home defeat and thus threw away a great opportunity to effectively wrap up the title race at such an early stage into the campaign.

Mourinho fantasising about a bolt of lightening taking out Messi

As it stands now the two teams are neck and neck in first position, with Real having a game in hand. However, even with that advantage, today’s result will be a massive psychological blow for Mou’s team as their self-created bubble was so savagely burst in front of them and talk of a shift in power towards the Spanish capital will be very much muted as a result.

With most of the pressure being heaped on Barcelona going into the tie, Pep kept his cards close to his chest and the multiple selection imponderables remained that way until close to kick off. Speculation about which formation would be employed (the work-in-progress 3-4-3 or tighter 4-3-3)? Who would appear up front with Messi? And whether Gerard Pique or Charles Puyol would play were closely guarded secrets the Barça coach was in no mood to reveal to the press.

Having made no secret about his intentions to start with a 4-3-3 formation with a three-man trivote in the middle of the park, the two main points of discussion surrounding Mou’s starting XI were, would Lass Diarra start in the middle along with Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso or do a job as right back, as question marks hung over Alvaro Arbeloa’s fitness. And who would get the nod to accompany Di María and Ronaldo up front, Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuaín?

In the end the Special One couldn’t resist a surprise. Presumably because Arbeloa wasn’t 100% to start, utility man Fabio Coentrão started at right-back while Khedira made way for Özil in midfield, meaning that the trivote idea was ditched in place of a 4-2-3-1 formation. The system that had provided their 15-game winning sreak and best utilises the attacking prowess of Ronaldo, Özil and Di María, with Benzema getting the nod up top.

Meanwhile Pep made some eyebrow raising selection choices of his own, with both David Villa and Javier Mascherano being sacrificed. Going with a 3-4-3, both Pique and Puyol partnered each other at the back alongside Eric Abidal, while la pulga was accompanied by Cesc and Alexis up front.

Much of the build-up to the game focused on how improved Madrid have become this season and their relentless pressing game was highlighted as a real worry for their visitors. Nonetheless, no one expected them to come out of the traps in the manner with which they did.

Twenty-four seconds was all Benzema needed to justify his inclusion, scoring the quickest goal in Clásico history. However the creation of the goal owed more to a horrendous error from Victor Valdes than a great Madrid move, the Barca keeper made a hash of a routine clearance straight from kick-off by gifting the ball to Di María whose failed through ball was blocked only as far as Ozil and his deflected shot looped towards the poaching Frenchman, who was able to adjust his stance and volley in from close range.

An amazing start, which madridistas probably thought was a just the beginning of a memorable night. Unfortunately for them it soon became one they’ll quickly want to forget.

Apart from the opening goal, the high-octane start produced few clear-cut opportunities for either side. Messi got the better of Ramos in the fifth minute after the wet surface caused the centre-half to lose his footing, but the ensuing run and snap shot was safely palmed away by Iker Casillas for a corner.

Ronaldo, again failing to live up to his world-class reputation on the big occasion, was guilty of glory hunting soon after, when a wonderfully delicate pass from Benzema to feed the Portuguese talisman in should have been laid off to Di María, who was in a much better position to score. Instead he went for the spectacular shot, leathering it well wide.

Messi punished such greediness minutes later with yet another mazy, chaos-creating run through the Madrid midfield, beating Lass and Ramos, then playing a superb vertical ball into the path of Alexis who, with plenty still to do, cooly shrugged off the hot-on-his-heels Coentrao and Pepe before rifling the ball well out of Casillas’ reach into the bottom left hand corner.

For all the talk before the match of referee, David Fernández Borbalán’s anti-madridista bias from certain corners of the Spanish sporting press (guess which ones), he handled the game well. However just before half-time he had a big call to make as a late challenge by Messi on Alonso which wasn’t punished with what would have been a second yellow card for the Argentine. Overall though, the ref was fair. All five yellows he produced were bookable offences and this time Mourinho will have to accept his side’s inferiority to a far stronger team than blame the referee for the result.

The equaliser signalled the start of Barca’s dominance in the game, and from that point on Real were a shadow of the team which has performed so dominantly this season.

Alexis levels matters

Soon into the restart things went from bad to worse for the home side, when Xavi, on his 600^th appreance for the blaugrana, attempted a speculative effort from outside the box and his, admittedly well struck, shot took a wicked deflection off Marcelo which wrong-footed Casillas, who could only watch helplessly as the ball bounced in off the post to make it 2-1, seemingly in slow motion.

Soon after and against the run of play, Ronaldo failed to make things level with a golden opportunity from a ball swung in from the right that the former Manchester United man only needed to direct into Valdes’ net from all of six yards out with no one marking him. Instead he headed it wide and had to look on in pain as Cesc Fabregas was on hand to show him how to finish with his head just a minute later.

Xavi mid fishing anecdote 

From Ronaldo’s miss Barcelona started a lightening fast sweeping move involving the ever-present Messi who released Alves on the right who then sent in a perfect cross towards Madrid’s back post which Cesc met with a powering header that flew into the back of the net. At 3-1 the game was over.

A speculative shot from Benzema, cutting in on his right, could have provided the home side with a lifeline had the recently introduced Higuaín been able to get on the end of it as it zipped past Valdes’ goal, however, it was beyond his reach and there were to be no more chances for the home side.

The game ended to a deafening cacophony of booing and hissing from the home support. Barcelona put an end to any doubts about their mental resolve and quietened and detractors who were pointing to their poor (by their standards) away record, by strolling to what in the end was an easy three points.

Back to the drawing board for Mou, who will have to lift his squad’s spirits ahead of next week’s trip to Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to face Sevilla.

FT: Real Madrid 1 (Benzema 1) Barcelona 3 (Alexis 29, Marcelo (og) 52, Fabregas 65)

Real Madrid: Casillas; Lass (Khedira), Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Coentrão, Alonso; Di María (Higuaín), Özil (Kaka), Ronaldo; Benzema.

Barcelona: Valdés; Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta (Pedro); Cesc (Keita), Messi, Alexis (Villa)

Fact: In 82 years of La Liga only twice has a team lifted the title after losing a clásico at home. Barca 28-29 & Madrid 75-76 

El Clasico's Fire Power Under the Lens

With the world coming to a stand still this Saturday night to watch the two titans of Spanish and, let’s face it, world football battle it out, I take a look at both Real Madrid and Barcelona’s forward line ups.

Real Madrid

First of all in the white corner a reluctant mention must go to Ángel Di María, who is in the form of his life at the moment and with his 11 assists (the most by any player in any of the top five European leagues) and three goals is thoroughly justifying the €30 million Mou coughed up to Benfica for him. Although certain elements of his game continue to frustrate this blogger, i.e. his persistent diving, his all round play this season has been top drawer and more so than ever he will be a real threat to the Barca back line as his creative streak shows no signs of petering out.

Di Maria: A moment of hand puppetry after scoring

2011/12 has been Real Madrid’s best ever start to a season. Breaking the previous club record of 46 goals in the opening 14 games, held by the 1959/60 team, which included DiStefano, Puskas and Gento, the current squad has notched up an incredible 49 goals. That’s an average of 3.5 goals per game.

Obviously without Cristiano Ronaldo running riot in midfield things would be very different. Rampant in midfield and devastating in front of goal CR7 is in blistering form this year, and apart from his 17 league goals he has also turned provider on six occasions. El Clasico, and it’s fair to say the big occasions in general, have not always produced the best from the 26 year old, however, scoring the winner against the old enemy in the Copa del Rey final this year will have boosted his already astoundingly high confidence no end. And while previous encounters between the sides at the Bernabéu have seen the former Manchester United ace come up short in comparison to Lionel Messi in the never-ending battle to find out which one of them is the world’s greatest player, this time round the surrogate father is almost unplayable at home. His eye for goal is keener than ever, as his six goals and four assists in six league games go to prove.

Nonetheless, the Portuguese maestro is not the only blanco Pep will be concerned about.

Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín are also making waves, if not significant ripples, in the scorer charts with 19 league goals between them. Mourinho’s fondness for a 4-2-3-1 formation, in order to exploit space for Ronaldo and Di María to prowl the wings and cause havoc, means that the two forwards are used interchangeably, usually on a game-to-game basis.

Last night against Ajax in the final group game, just for the hell of it, the Special One started with both of them together. Any inkling either player had about this experimental tactic being repeated on Saturday was nipped in the bud my Mou after the game when he said, “Saturday is a different game and Cristiano, Di María and either Benzema or Higuaín will play”.

The fact that it was the former Lyon man who came off early in Amsterdam could be interpreted as the French man being rested ahead of the big clash on the weekend.

Benzema, having originally struggled to settle in, now looks at home in Madrid, thanks in no short part to having the club’s sporting director and fellow Gaul, Zinedine Zidane as a mentor. Benzema has always had the necessary level of natural talent to fit in at the club but previously seemed to lack the psychological strength an institution like Madrid requires. He is coping far better with the competition within the squad now though and seems to be enjoying his football once again. Of the two forwards he is probably the more complete player: able to play as the lone man up front or drop deeper if needs be, as he showed when filling in for Di Maria in midfield recently.

"No hard feelings mate"

All the same, Higuaín is by no means a second rate striker and could easily feature. The affable French-born Argentine is as cynical as they come, holding the best goals to games ratio of all la liga players: only seven starts and seven appearances as a sub in the current campaign have produced 12 goals from Pipita.

Barcelona

While Mourinho’s decision as to who will start between Benzema and Higuaín is anyone’s guess, los culés have one player who (failing a natural disaster or a well orchestrated abduction by Madrid fans) is guaranteed to start, the untouchable Argentine, Leo Messi. A superlative heavy homage to la pulga (the flee) is wholly unnecessary, as we all know what the wizard from Rosario is capable of: 17 league goals and 7 assists since the beginning of the season speaks for itself. Even though only one of these goals was scored on the road (against Athletic), the Santiago Bernabéu is a particularly fruitful hunting ground for the number ten, where in this calendar year alone he has silenced los merengues no less than four times in three games, including during the Champions League semi-final, when he took on the Madrid midfield and back line singlehandedly in a mazy, one-man-against-the-world style dribble before cooly slotting the ball into the back of Casillas’ net.

Gentlemen before battle: Ronaldo and Messi

Pep’s selection conundrum comes in the form of choosing between the other world class strikers at his disposal. Whether the Philosopher (as old buddy Zlatan affectionately refers to him) sticks with the 4-3-3 formation, which he has employed for most of the season, or reverts to a tighter 4-4-2, in order to quash Real’s midfield, remains to be seen. Going on previous encounters I’m willing to hazard a guess at the former, in which case the chances of making the starting XI would be much more favourable for the likes of David Villa, Alexis Sanchez, Pedro or this season’s Masía revelation, Isaac Cuenca (Adriano still out with a knock).

Having to play in a system that’s designed to best utilise star man Messi requires the other forwards to adapt, and in some cases play out of position. This is definitely true for Villa, who for his standards has had a pretty quiet season so far. Rumours that he and Messi don’t get along with each other should to be taken with a grain (if not a shaker) of salt, however, there is no denying that El Guaje is being played wider than he’d like, and seeing as he doesn’t offer much in terms of defensive duties or build up play this puts extra pressure on his finishing ability. Nonetheless, even on his quiet days the number 7 is capable of scoring goals from thin air, like during his last run out at the Bernabéu when he cut in on his right and curled the ball spectacularly into the top corner of Madrid’s net to equalise, having done little else up until that point.

 Infectious yawn: Villa and Pedro

There is also the prospect of Alexis Sánchez, whose arrival to the Camp Nou was somewhat overshadowed by all the drama surrounding Cesc Fabregas’ return to Catalonia. The Chilean didn’t have an ideal start to his la liga career, picking up a hamstring injury against Real Sociedad, which saw him side-lined for most of October and lost him his place in the pecking order. However, in recent weeks he has found the frightening form which made him such a hit in Udinese. Fast, skilful and willing to track back, Alexis is a versatile forward who can play anywhere along the front line and even drop deeper into midfield if called upon to.

No one expected new boy Cuenca to hit the ground running in the manner which he has since coming into the Barca first team. While he may not have exactly been blessed in the looks department, the precocious 20 year old makes up for this with his footballing talent. A definite crowd-pleaser, he possesses all the hallmarks of an azulgrana: pace, pin-point passing, invention, intelligence and finishing. As Guardiola so eloquently put it after another fine performance against Levante on Saturday, “Physically speaking he might not be popular with the ladies, but on the field he does things that will amaze you. He does his work perfectly!” Playing out of his skin against BATE in the Champions League last night and contributing to all four goals will have done his chances of starting his first Clasico no harm.

Girl repulser, Isaac Cuenca 

That leaves Pedro. Ankle problems have limited his playing time this season and, although, lasting the whole 90 minutes on Tuesday night against BATE he probably lacks enough match time to merit a start. Saying that, his work rate, passing and knack for scoring important goals will ensure that he remains an ace up Pep’s shirt sleeve and is likely to feature at some stage during the clash.

Verdict

The stage is set for another epic encounter and this time Madrid has the upper hand because of their six point advantage going into it. That said Barca are sure to have fire in their bellies and will do whatever it takes to close the gap between the clubs.

Barcelona-centric Rosell's 16 team vision

A few weeks back, during a meeting of the European Club Association (ECA), the president of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell proposed a reduction in the number of teams competing in la Primera Liga from 20 to 16, on the grounds that it would protect the integrity of Europe’s second most popular league. His attempts to convince the other members that a more streamline league would be for the greater good were immediately shot down as being utterly disingenuous, with chief executive of the English Premier League, Richard Scudamore labelling his plans as “Barcelona-centric”.

In press mode

His argument for cutting the amount of clubs was twofold. Firstly, a decreased number of teams would ease fixture congestion and could even allow for big European clashes to take place on the weekend rather than during the week, as is now the case. And secondly, (according to him) such a move would increase competitiveness within the Spanish top flight, away from the current duopoly enjoyed by his Catalan charges and their fierce rivals, Real Madrid.

To see where Jon Cryer’s long lost brother was coming from, it’s worth taking a look at his true intentions.

To begin with, player fatigue is clearly a real concern for his club: not including international matches, for which the azulgrana tree is particularly fruit bearing (the Spanish national team alone consists of eight from it’s ranks), Barca played 62 competitive matches last season in all competitions, including the league, the Champions League, the Copa del Rey, the domestic Supercopa and the UEFA Super Cup. This season, depending on how far they progress through these contests (quite far I’d imagine), that figure could be surpassed as they also have the extra “burden” of the World Club Cup next month in Japan.

Lionel Messi, while togging out for his native Argentina against Colombia last week, raised his own concerns about how the relentless schedule has been sapping him of energy. And in fairness to la pulga, the degree to which he is used by both club and country is bound to take it’s toll: since 2 July he has only had a 63 minute breather from play for either side, when he started as a sub against Real Sociedad in September. In other words, out of the last 27 games he has played 2,397 minutes, an average of 88.77 minutes per game. Although he somewhat discredited the notion of being overexerted last Saturday, by effortlessly running riot at home against Zaragoza in a routine league win, one expects that the exhaustingly high demands being placed upon Barca’s relatively small squad will eventually catch up with the Spanish and European champions.

Rosell, well aware of his players’ physical constraints, is politically savvy enough to know that getting your way involves an element of cloaking your true intentions.

For one, it is more likely that he was gunning for a more realistic reduction to 18 teams rather than 16, but in classic negotiating style suggested the more dramatic cut in the hope of coming to a “compromised” agreement.

Messi feeling the effects while on international duty

Also, in a measure to butter up the La Liga clubs outside the top two with his plan, the 47 year old astutely appealed to their most basic of sensibilities: money. Arguing for more stringent financial controls to curtail, among other things, the arrival of more foreign owners (a la Racing Santander and Malaga) the Barca president claimed that a move to a more manageable number of teams would swing the balance of power back towards the clubs and away from other parties, “FIFA, UEFA and national federations are reaping more and more, agents and players are earning more, but the clubs lose out annually. There’s something wrong with this equation”.

Self protectionism is a natural instinct, one which Rosell is not immune to, so coming out with Marxist statements like the one above seems a bit rich, especially given how his club enjoys roughly 22.5% of the current TV rights money. It doesn’t need explaining that the distribution of wealth between the 20 La Liga clubs significantly favours the big two, making the Spanish league completely uncompetitive.

A new agreement in which TV revenues will be shared out more evenly is being hammered now, to begin at the start of the 2015/16 season. However, this new deal will still preserve Barcelona and Real Madrid’s dominance, as although their slice of the pie would drop to 17% each, the next highest earners, Atlético Madrid and Valencia, would only gain a mere 5.5% each in comparison.

With this in mind, Rosell’s request to concentrate the league is more likely him trying to ensure that the value of this 17% rises, thereby guaranteeing that the gulf between Spain’s have’s and have not’s continues to grow.

Rosell’s manoeuvrings to keep the existing status quo are fantastic from a Barcelona point of view, but ultimately his is a very short-sighted vision of the future. If things carry on like this La Liga is in real danger of becoming (dare I say it?) worse than the SPL.