Real Madrid: Dani Carvajal was the unsung hero of El Clasico

Real Madrid right back Dani Carvajal is one of the best fullbacks in the world, and he showed his quality in the 0-0 draw with FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.

Zinedine Zidane provided a coaching masterclass tactically, and the Los Merengues players did the rest. While Real Madrid can consider themselves unlucky to have shared the spoils with FC Barcelona, who could have easily been whistled for an early penalty on Raphael Varane, they can be proud of the way they dominated the 90 minutes against their bitter rivals.

Casemiro, Fede Valverde, Isco, and Toni Kroos received high praise for their dominant work in midfield, and captain Sergio Ramos had a goal-line clearance to go with more solid work defensively. Ferland Mendy was also excellent. But if you’re looking for an unsung hero from El Clasico, look no further than the player across from Mendy in Dani Carvajal.

The Real Madrid right back completely took Antoine Griezmann out of the game, while also dealing with the threat of Jordi Alba. While Alba should have had a goal early in the game, Real eventually took him out of the proceedings by having Gareth Bale track back to help Carvajal.

Other than that, Carvajal was impeccable. He had a brilliant slide tackle to stop a cross from going into the box, which irked Alba enough to cry for a penalty. Carvajal made several brilliant clean-up plays, covering all areas of the field to help Real Madrid maintain a clean sheet in what was truly a team effort on defense.

Carvajal continued to do everything to support the attack, too. According to WhoScored.com, the Spain international led Los Blancos with three accurate crosses. He completed 94.1% of his passes, provided two key passes, and even completed a pair of successful dribbles.

The fullbacks are usually keys to Clasicos, and Carvajal offered attacking intent while keeping things quiet on defense. Griezmann had no dribbles completed or shots on target and just the one key pass, as the expensive Atletico Madrid transfer was completely negated into a non-factor by his familiar rivals.

Defensively, Carvajal had two tackles and two interceptions in a hyper-aware performance on the right side, as he shut down his flank. Carvajal’s had a solid 2019-2020 campaign, but there have been times where he’s been caught out defensively, such as against Deportivo Alaves and the 3-0 loss to PSG in September.

But El Clasico was a reminder of how good Carvajal can be when he’s at his best. The 27-year-old is one of the best right backs in European football, and he showed how well-rounded his game is against FC Barcelona under the bright lights of the Camp Nou. So give Carvajal his due when praising Real Madrid for their composed performance in December’s Clasico.