Real Madrid demolished: El Clasico post match reaction
By Hasan Karim
El Clasico has mercifully concluded and it was far from the result we as Real Madrid fans would have liked. Barcelona ran rampant over Madrid at the Nou Camp, finishing with a 5-1 scoreline.
There was already considerable nerves in the build-up to this game. Madrid has not been in the best of form leading into this game and that was shown throughout this match.
Madrid barely had a sniff of the ball throughout the opening exchanges as Barcelona controlled the tempo.
Madrid’s shape while out of possession was utterly diabolical. When one considers how high a line Barca played in this game, a counter-attacking solution would have been a smart idea. However, Madrid didn’t even set-up to do that. It was completely clueless.
The defensive shape was frail and no way near compact enough – huge gaps behind the full-backs being the biggest issue which was duly exploited. A simple pass and move exchange from the Catalans saw the space behind Nacho manipulated by Jordi Alba who had all the time in the world to pick out an unmarked Coutinho in the middle of the box.
A completely and utterly pathetic defensive display. Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane collapsed entirely, chasing the same run with no midfielder to close any runs which left Coutinho in ample space.
The trend continued throughout the first half. Barca continually found empty spaces and suffocated Madrid with a high press. With such little possession, this wasn’t helped by the woeful display in the midfield as Isco, Modric and Kroos were all clearly celebrating an early Halloween with their invisible ghost-like performances.
Concluding the first half – it was clear that Julen Lopetegui had completely and utterly failed tactically in this game. The decision to leave out Álvaro Odriozola for Nacho was baffling. You could guarantee that the summer signing would have done a better job of pressing Alba than Nacho. This was not helped by the fact that the team looked utterly lifeless with no desire to win this game.
The second half saw some changes from the manager. With his job at that point probably on the line, he switched out the reportedly injured Varane and brought in Lucas Vazquez as he shifted to a 3-5-2 formation.
Next. Three takeaways from Real Madrid’s 5-1 El Clasico defeat. dark
The early exchanges looked good for Madrid as they finally showed some nerve to fight back. Vazquez was the one who led the charge for the “consolation goal.” Although, that was the only positive of that half.
Marcelo then joined the injury list and Barca ran completely rampant as they scored four goals in the second half.
Considering the importance of this game – this result was utterly embarrassing. Barca is without Messi and hardly in shining form, Madrid is just a ton worse than its rivals. Considering the continual support from the squad for Lopetegui, the team has hardly shown the desire to play for him and ultimately it is their disgusting performance that will arguably unfairly cost the former Spain manager his job.
It is practically impossible to see how he survives the wrath of president Florentino Perez. The next few days will be quite interesting.