Tactical analysis of Real Madrid vs Barcelona Super Cup second leg
By Hasan Karim
Campeones! Real Madrid defeated Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup to become the Spanish champions. The game ended 2-0 on the night, 5-1 on aggregate.
The lineup featured a few changes from the tie at the Camp Nou, with Cristiano Ronaldo suspended, Lucas Vasquez and Marco Asensio started in place of the Portuguese and the Welshman Gareth Bale who was dropped to the bench, elsewhere Mateo Kovacic took the place of Casemiro, otherwise, the lineup was unchanged.
Defense
The defensive lineup remained unchanged from the first leg, with Dani Carvajal and Marcelo at full back whilst Varane and Ramos partnered in the centre, Keylor Navas also remained between the sticks. The defense as a whole was solid throughout the game, they were able to play out from the back often and with relative ease as Barcelona didn’t press as much as expected.
The back four saw off the majority of what Messi and Co managed to throw at them, which wasn’t a huge amount. Through the first half, Barcelona managed only a single shot which was off target anyhow. The full backs controlled any wide play that the Catalan outfit attempted and the centre backs snuffed out the majority of the danger.
Both Ramos and Varane were hugely impressive in their consistent and aggressive approach which saw them winning the ball back outside of the box often and pushing the Barca forwards further back into their own half. Despite only a couple of errors, it was a largely undisruptive outing for Varane and Ramos.
Marcelo and Carvajal were also exceptional through the game, not allowing much to be created in the wide areas and often got involved in the attacks as expected.
Keylor Navas also had a strong display – his assertive charges at oncoming strikers and quick responses to danger saw him in next to no trouble throughout the evening. We also got to see the home debut of Theo Hernandez. The player looked bright and assertive from his introduction, marauding forward and creating some decent chances. From a defensive stand point, this was a strong performance for Real Madrid’s back line.
Midfield
The Real Madrid midfield put in yet another stellar performance in midfield. With the return of Luka Modric, Madrid looked even better than they did in the Camp Nou. They passed the ball around with complete ease and controlled the tempo expertly. They hustled the Barcelona midfield on multiple occasions with displays of clever touches and sly tricks.
Toni Kroos sprayed passes all over the park and barely put a foot wrong, Modric covered an exceptional amount of ground despite missing the first leg, it doesn’t appear to have affected his sharpness whatsoever. Deputizing for Casemiro was Mateo Kovacic who has continued to show what he has been displaying all throughout preseason so far which is why he is one of the worlds best midfield prospects. The young Croatian was astute in his defensive work and extremely effective when going forward with strong drive and vigour.
Late in the game saw the introduction of Casemiro and the home debut of Dani Ceballos who had some bright moments but seems to still be lacking in sharpness a little. As a whole, the midfield looks exceptionally strong ahead of the league campaign.
Forwards
The forward line of the team differed a little from the first leg – Vasquez and Asensio started in place of Isco and Bale. Asensio took the game by storm in the early exchanges as he ran the Barcelona defence ragged – he scored a beautiful 30-yard curler in the 4th minute and looked bright for the most part of his time on the field.
Karim Benzema improved on his performance in the first leg, he provided numerous good passes and also displayed some exceptional hold up and link up play. He also scored a flashy volley after some exceptional movement to get away from Samuel Umtiti.
Lucas Vasquez put in a workman like performance, he covered a lot of ground and generated some fantastic chances and was extremely unlucky not to get onto the scoresheet himself after he hit the post during the game. Despite not being the usual suspects up front, the forwards were efficient with their chances and posed plenty of issues throughout the game. Asensio looked exceptional and he could pose a real threat to Gareth Bale this coming season.
Next: Real Madrid 2 - 0 Barcelona - Super Cup second leg quick take