FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid(0-0) – Post Match Tactical Analysis

Real Madrid and Barcelona played out a draw at the Camp Nou in what was the final El Clasico of this decade. This was the first scoreless Clasico in all competitions since November 2002. Even though Real Madrid outplayed Barcelona over both the halves, they were unable to get the elusive goal. Both sides had chances that were cleared off the line, and Gareth Bale had a late goal ruled out for an offside in the build-up.

Key Points

• Casemiro and Fede Valverde yet again show us how important they are for Real Madrid this season
• Real Madrid lacked creativity in the final third
• Barcelona’s midfield performance was sub-par.
• Ter Stegan had more touches in the game than Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez.
• Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique had made a goal line clearance each.

Lineups and Formations

Real Madrid

Real Madrid lined up in there usual 4-3-3 with 3 changes from the side that snatched a point in Mestalla. Isco was playing in a free role and drifted towards the center, behind Bale and Benzema, so as to create spaces for the two of them upfront.

FC Barcelona

Barcelona lined up with their usual 4-3-3 formation with one forced change, minutes after they released their starting lineup. Sergio Busquets was replaced by Ivan Rakitic as the former was unwell. This decision was a little surprising(but inevitable) and it showed in the game. The Barcelona midfielders never had a control on the game.

A Real Madrid dominated Clasico

Yesterday’s game was the first time Barcelona dropped points at home in the league. It was a game in which Real Madrid where more superior and stats prove the same.

• Majority of the game was played in Barcelona’s half(over 60% of the game).
• Real Madrid had a total of 17 shots in the game compared to Barcelona’s 9.
• Los Blancos had made 32 crosses(7 successful) which was 4 times Barcelona’s 8(2 successful).
• Real Madrid had made 12 key passes in game compared to Barcelona’s 8.
• Real Madrid also had made 16 tackles and 12 interceptions compared to Barcelona’s 14 tackles and 7 interceptions.

Real Madrid’s Solid Defensive Structure

One of the highlights of yesterday’s game was, the commanding defensive performance by Los Blancos. Barcelona definetly did well defensively with Pique having a game high 10 clearances and 2 interceptions, who was well supported by Clement Lenglet who had the second highest number of tackles in game (3).

But Real Madrid’s defensive performance was one we must appreciate and all credit goes to their boss, Zinedine Zidane. They had come to come to the Camp Nou to play a team, considered to be ruthless in front of goal and a team which never lost at home, this season in the league. But throughout the game, barring one or two chances, the Barcelona front 3 never looked threatening. This can be attributed to the remarkable positioning of both the midfielders and defenders of Los Blancos, due to which Messi(who produced 2 amazing chances for Barcelona in the game out of nowhere), on most occasions, had to drop deep to get the ball.

Generally when on the ball Real Madrid, as always tried to attack down the left. Carvajal stayed back on some occasions and Fede Valverde provided the width on the right flank. He was running from up and down the pitch, not only making key interceptions and tackles, but also had 3 shots in the game with 1 on target.

Barcelona were being pressed high up the pitch. This forced them to go back to Ter Stegan who also didn’t have much of a choice. So he had to go long,(he had made 13 long passes(5 successful)) which inevitably resulted in Barcelona losing possession, and also was one of the reasons for the less involvement of their front 3.

Casemiro had a match high 5 tackles and was one of the key components in Los Blancos’ defense as always. He was well supported by Kroos(3 key passes, 2 tackles and 3 interceptions) and Valverde(1 clearance and 2 interceptions) in midfield.

Barcelona struggling to win the midfield battle

If you watched the match last night one could easily point out the lack of energy in Barcelona’s midfield. The only positive one could say was that Ivan Rakitic was not bad in the holding midfield role. He had made a match high 78 accurate passes with a pass percentage of 96%. Otherwise they were mediocre. This can be due to more than one reason. One being Real Madrid’s brilliant positioning, due to which Barcelona players never had any good passing options when they went upfront. Whenever without the ball, Real’s players never looked to attack the player with the ball rather, they moved into channels to prevent the distribution of the ball, while moving forward. This forced the Barcelona’s players to play more to their back line rather than those ahead of them. Also the Barcelona players tended to lose the ball easily.

Some Noteworthy Points

• Ferland Mendy is really good defensively and can provide width down the left flank as well. But attacking wise Marcelo is a much better choice as we could clearly see Mendy struggle to put good crosses into the box. So this is a dilemma Zidane will have, while choosing his Left back once Marcelo returns from injury.
• Sergi Roberto’s performance in midfield was poor and he very clearly is a better right back than a central midfielder. But still Ernesto Valverde starts Roberto in Midfield.
• Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos were superb in defense alongside Dani Carvajal. Carvajal had a great game and also was one of the reasons why Griezmann was quiet for most of the game.
• Isco was instrumental in finding spaces and made overlapping runs in both flanks. Add to that he had 3 successful dribbles.
• Frenkie De Jong looked really good on the ball but was limited on good passing options and was not supported properly by his teammates.
• Raphael Varane was fouled twice inside the box and yet Real madrid was not awarded a penalty. One was a high boot on his thigh by Lenglet. The other was a shirt pull by Rakitic. Both the situations wasn’t even taken to the Video-Assistant-Referee.

Man of the Match

Real Madrid : Casemiro

It’s simple. He made 1 interception, 5 important tackles(match high) won 7 ground duels and Barcelona, struggled to get past him. He made 55 passes(85% success rate) and had 2 shots on target (also was denied a goal by Pique due to an amazing goal line clearance).

Barcelona : Pique

Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet, as I had mentioned earlier were vital cogs in Barcelona’s defense, and were the reason why Real struggled to score. It was a close call to pick one between these 2 but Pique got the nod due to his goal line clearance.

What next for both the teams

Real Madrid

Los Blancos will next face Athletic Bilbao at home without Casemiro( who will be suspended for the game as he received his 5th yellow card in the Clasico). There were also some reports that Sergio Ramos played the second half of the Clasico with a sprained ankle. So his presence in the Bilbao game might not be confirmed.

FC Barcelona

Barcelona on the other hand will face Alaves at home on the 21st of December.

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