Barcelona achieved its first victory over Actual Madrid since 2019, by dismantling the La Liga leaders 4-0 on the Santiago Bernabeu, with targets from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (two targets), Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres. Listed here are three concepts about traditional:
1. The center of Xavi Barcelona
Xavi’s first sport answerable for Barcelona was precisely 4 months in the past, at which era that they had risen from ninth to 3rd in La Liga, however merely measuring this progress in numbers understates the influence it has had.
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He took the helm of a broken-hearted group and reworked it right into a assured unit we noticed on Sunday on the Bernabéu. It isn’t a lot about preaching Barcelona’s conventional values of possession, creativity and collectivism above the person – many have finished so earlier than – he lives accordingly, whereas permitting himself the house to make the type of changes that fashionable occasions demand. Toy. Like taking part in a pure defender at right-back to include the short Vinicius Junior fairly than making the emotional determination to exit Dani Alves. Or play wingers like Torres and Ousmane Dembele, who interpret the sport – and the middle – in radically alternative ways. Or rebuild the arrogance of a midfielder like Aubameyang – who has been suspended or out of manufacturing for the reason that summer time at his previous membership, Arsenal – and transforms him into an extremely efficient attacking menace.
All of this got here amid resignations from membership executives, doubts about whether or not the membership will nonetheless be capable to ship and, extra just lately, the information that subsequent season’s monetary constraints are prone to be as tight as they’ve been this season, if no more. No matter Barcelona, the person ought to run for public workplace.
2. Ancelotti thinks exterior the field and pays the value
With no resident icon Karim Benzema, Actual Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti had two broad choices: he might preserve his 4-3-3 fashion and introduce one other striker – whether or not it is a specialised striker like Mariano Diaz or Luka Jovic or an adaptive striker like Marco Asensio – or he can He tore up his scheme and throw the curveball to Barcelona, conjuring up a completely new scheme.
He opted for the latter, and ended up with an uncommon diamond that stored his wings (Rodrigo and Vinicius) large and left Luka Modric and generally Toni Kroos as de facto entrance males by way of the center. It was daring and it was authentic, and it was a catastrophe.
It made it extraordinarily straightforward for Barcelona to play by way of the primary urgent line, giving full management within the last third to Xavi’s workers, taking part in straight into their fingers. With a nine-point lead on the high of La Liga, and the Champions League quarter-final towards Chelsea in two and a half weeks, you possibly can take a little bit experiment, however that backfired. Nobody will wish to see this strategy once more.
3. Dembele’s determination is extra complicated than ever
With all of Barcelona’s dominance, it was Dembele who supplied the prevalence. He made the primary aim, with a traditional pretend inside-out transfer on Nacho that left the defender rooted to the penalty spot as he raced to the sideline and slotted in a exact cross for Aubameyang. Araujo’s second head got here from one of many French’s laser-guided renditions of an angle. He even had a hand in making ready for the third.
When he is like this, he is near not with the ability to play. He is one of the two-legged gamers on the market, with pace and ample high quality. After all, we additionally noticed the draw back, particularly after he began to fall again after the break: clearing the ball, not monitoring successfully and getting a shot from Xavi earlier than being substituted. However generally, with the celebrities, you’ll want to dwell with the opposite facet.
Dembele turns into a free agent on 30 June. Negotiations are now not shifting ahead. Barcelona has a brand new monetary actuality that they should cope with; Dembele could really feel he deserves extra, and if he can ship the primary half each week just like the half we noticed towards Madrid, he deserves it. He is 24, and when Ansu Fati returns from harm, he could possibly be half a destroyed pair of wings for the subsequent decade or so. On the flip facet, he has by no means made greater than 22 league appearances in a single season, resulting from a string of accidents, and also you wish to assume twice earlier than making him the membership’s highest-paid participant. There’s an enormous name to make right here, and Barcelona cannot afford to go improper.
