My 3 Thoughts on Barcelona-Real Madrid
Here are my three thoughts on Real Madrid’s 2-1 win at Barcelona, our Game of the Weekend:
• It’s a different game if Sergiño Dest converts his sitter. You hate to put in those terms, but it’s true. The 20-year-old American, playing higher up as a winger, got a wide-open chance in front of the goal with the score at 0-0 in the 25th minute and somehow right-footed it over the bar. For USMNT fans, it was a PTSD situation: An American in a huge game has a sitter in front of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois that he skies over the bar. (Flashbacks to Chris Wondolowski vs. Belgium in World Cup 2014.) The fact is, Dest had a pretty good game otherwise; he cut in and got off a dangerous shot in the second half (similar to the recent goal he scored for the U.S. against Costa Rica), assisted on Sergio Agüero’s late goal to pull one back, and when he moved to right back in the second half defended better against Vini Jr. than anyone would have expected. But people will remember the missed sitter the most, and that’s part of the game.
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• David Alaba’s goal was something truly special from a centerback. It’s funny: We’ve heard the nickname “Piquenbauer” over the years to describe Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué and his ability to impact the attacking end of the field, but the defender who most looked like Franz Beckenbauer in this game was Alaba. It’s rare these days to see a centerback score a goal that doesn’t involve a set-piece or a blast from extreme distance out of possession. But that was Alaba winning the ball in his own end and then speeding forward to lead the Real Madrid counterattack before a cutting through-ball from Vini Jr. led to Alaba hitting a glorious finish at the end of the sequence. It was marvelous stuff—and a direct counterpoint to the actions at the end of the game by Piqué, who wasted his time complaining about a justified non-call in the box while Real Madrid countered in the other direction for Lucas Vázquez to score the late goal that eventually made the difference in the outcome.
• Barcelona is in danger of making this rivalry game something lesser than what it has always been. The mismanagement of Barcelona in recent years has been tragic, and we all know about the debt that’s now more than $1 billion and has caused the departure of Lionel Messi. But things aren’t going to get better anytime soon for Barcelona off the field, and the indications are the same for what’s happening on the field. The result: In pure sporting terms, the biggest game in La Liga today isn’t Barcelona-Real Madrid, it’s Atlético Madrid-Real Sociedad. Barcelona is a ninth-place team in La Liga that isn’t likely to get out of its Champions League group or qualify for next season’s Champions League. It’s main summer signing, Memphis Depay, hasn’t scored from the run of play since August and misfired badly on a golden chance to tie the score late in this game. Barça has lost four straight games against Real Madrid for the first time since 1965. And it’s using players like Luuk de Jong who frankly aren’t Barcelona players. It’s depressing, and the end isn’t in sight.
What are your thoughts on the game? You can share them in the comments below.
Three Additional Thoughts...
1) When Memphis plays out wide, the ball gets stuck and then dies at his feet. He doesn't play to Alba on the overlap, which allows defenses to guard Memphis with both the fullback and the defender that is tracking Alba's run. Memphis is also not able to beat defenders in the space between the byline and his shot. He is really much better as a central player who drifts to the corner of the box than he is a player who provides space.
2) On the first Madrid goal, Memphis is the person who was tracking Alaba during the centerback's long run. He went stride for stride with Alaba until about halfway between the 18 and the midfield line, when he simply stopped running. Mingueza wasn't able to catch up and Garcia had already committed to working with Pique on containing Benzema. If Memphis stays with Alaba, it is likely a different story.
3) Madrid did very well playing physically against Barcelona's youngsters, although it was a bit surprising to see Kroos and Vazquez doing that work. Typically, it's Casemiro that is hacking down players (and escaping with just a warning from the referee), but we didn't see that game from him. There just isn't an Arturo Vidal or Jermaine Jones on this Barcelona team that is going to give a player like Vazquez a leg-snapper tackle in retribution.
On your last point, I'm a neutral and I don't view it as depressing that Barcelona is going through a downturn. It's actually going to be healthier for the competitiveness of La Liga to have other clubs take a turn getting a Champions League berth. Think about all of the fanbases in Spain who are now energized by the possibility of having a shot at the same glory that Barca and Real have had to themselves for so long.