5 Reasons why Real Madrid dominated Barcelona in El Clasico
Real Madrid came in and won the most crucial match of the season so far relatively comfortably. They did everything correctly at the appropriate moments to get the exact result they needed vs Barcelona, to return to the top of the La Liga standings.
The El Clasico victory was the culmination of a variety of backroom and on-the-field choices and tactical solutions that resulted in the impressive win. Real Madrid’s game on Santiago Bernabeu’s turf went quite smoothly, or at least smoother than expected, and the efforts paid off.
Getting the outcome of this game in favour of Los Blancos was a crucial task that was successfully carried out after last season’s wake-up call.
In this article, we will paint a picture of the five most significant aspects that guaranteed Real Madrid walked off the field with a win.
5 Reasons why Real Madrid dominated Barcelona in El Clasico
5. Checkmate in the game’s strategic approach
Real Madrid strategically overpowered Barcelona and rendered them immobile, particularly in the first few minutes of the game, after which the visitors steadily gained some tempo but were unable to break through.
Carlo Ancelotti’s plan to cripple Xavi’s plans was quite correct, and he assigned his players with all the appropriate tasks in order to defeat Barcelona.
The Spanish manager’s worst error was possibly paying too much attention to Vinicius Jr, so much so that he couldn’t focus on other areas of the game. Xavi made his defensive line on Vini’s side too strong, which was undoubtedly effective in halting the Brazilian back, but at the expense of leaving the other side of the pitch easier to get through.
Ancelotti seemed well aware that Xavi’s primary goal would be to isolate Vinicius on the wing, and the Italian manager used the tactic against the Spaniard by allowing him to overload the left wing, leaving space on the right that was exploited by Federico Valverde and Dani Carvajal, effectively disrupting Barcelona’s defence mechanism and leaving them vulnerable, unsure at times whether to cover Vinicius or Valverde.
Real Madrid’s manager was aware of the pawns Xavi was about to move, but instead of being concerned, he used his own knights to smash the rooks from behind.