First Half
0-15 minutes
Much of the lead up to the match was dominated by the debate over whether Luis Enrique would start Lionel Messi, who was on the cusp of recovery from a knee injury. Spoiler alert: He did not start. Luis Enrique set his side out in the Blaugrana’s usual 4-3-3 but with Sergi Roberto – their ever present utility man this season – starting in Messi’s position on the right of the front three.
Rafa Benitez finally had the chance to choose from a full complement of players following a rash of injuries, and decided to line his team up in a 4-2-3-1 with James Rodriguez on the right and Gareth Bale playing the number 10 role.
Straight from the kick off, Sergio Busquets set the tone with a delicious drag back that left Gareth Bale wondering if his top-knot was still attached to his head. Given his anonymous display, it’s entirely possible that Bale, who has done very little to convince anyone except Florentino Perez that he can play through the middle, actually did spend the rest of the game worrying where his bun had got to.
In the opening exchanges, Real Madrid pressed Barcelona high up the pitch, even closing down Claudio Bravo when he received the ball, but this soon exposed their biggest deficiency – their lack of defensive organisation. The front four were entirely disconnected from the two defensive midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. More on how this played out later.
There was a number of niggly fouls that usually characterise a high level match such as this but on 11 minutes, Barcelona struck the first blow. Following a spell of patient possession where almost every Barcelona player touched the ball, Sergi Roberto darted into space behind the Madrid midfield. Sergio Ramos stepped up to confront the danger, but in doing so, gave Luis Suarez plenty of room to receive the pass from Roberto and apply an exquisite outside-of-the-boot finish into the bottom left corner of the goal.
After the goal, Barca continued to exert their dominance. Madrid’s midfield were being overpowered, with Bale, James and Ronaldo all unable to get on the ball and have any influence on the match. Busquests and Iniesta controlled the ball in midfield, which gave Suarez and Neymar licence to interchange frequently.
15-30 minutes
During this period, Madrid continued to give the ball away, their midfield seemingly incapable of maintaining possession for more than two or three passes. Ronaldo switched sides in an effort to receive the ball more, but it was to no avail – Madrid’s issue was structural. In both defence and attack, there was a gaping void between the defensive midfield block of Kroos and Modric, (tireless but constantly overrun) and the attackers of Ronaldo, Bale, James and Benzema, who either decided to or were unable to, apply any kind of organised pressure on Barcelona. As a result, Kroos and Modric were caught in a catch-22. If they played deep, Barca dominated the midfield in front of them, if they tried close the space in the midfield, they were destroyed in behind by Suarez, Neymar and on occasion, Iniesta.
One wonders why this was allowed to happen in the first place, especially under Benitez, a manager known for training clubs to be organised and to press well. Was he sending a message to the Madrid top brass, the media and those fans who had criticised him since his appointment? “I played the team you wanted guys, and looked what happened!” Or perhaps it’s the result of a disillusioned squad, riddled with factions and unhappy about the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti?
The Merengues experienced a few longer spells of possession towards the half hour mark, but nothing that worried Barcelona, who still had most of the chances but were unable to convert.
30-45 minutes
The match began to settle down into a predictable pattern and resembled a smooth dish (Barcelona possession) peppered with chilli (Madrid’s attempted counter attacks). But in 39th minute, Neymar served up the second course with Iniesta as sous chef. (This is awful).
Madrid’s disorganisation disease had infected the entire team as they were unable to apply any pressure to the ball once on the back foot. After Barca stole possession from Modric, the backline were completely unsure what to do when their defensive midfield cover had been broken. Iniesta took full advantage by playing in Neymar who delicately finished between Keylor Navas’ legs to make it 0-2.
Second Half
45-60 minutes
Madrid started the second half brightly. Marcelo fired into the side netting after evading challenges from Alves and Pique and James drew a smart save from Bravo in the 48th minute. But gradually, Madrid’s earlier problem began to rear its ugly head again. Kroos and Modric were still stationed far too deep. Time and again they allowed Barca’s midfield too much space and come the 53rd minute, it was Iniesta’s turn to punish them. The little maestro found himself in acres of space in front of Madrid’s back four, played a one-two with Neymar, and drove the ball high into the next from just inside the box.
By then, Rafa Benitez had had enough. It was time to shut up shop. He brought on right back Carvajal for Marcelo and shifted Danilo over into the vacated left back slot. This was also likely precipitated by Luis Enrique bringing on a certain Lionel Messi for Ivan Rakitic four minutes earlier, (one injury doubt for another). Benitez also substituted James for Isco.
60-75 minutes
The match began to fizzle out. Madrid lost more and more confidence and aimed to avoid further embarrassment. They had a few chances, with Isco assisting in keeping the ball a lot better, but Barcelona were also happy to sit back a little, safe in the knowledge of their 0-3 lead. It was not until the 68th minute that Bale and Ronaldo showed what they are capable of, combining to sprint into space and draw an impressive save from Barca keeper Claudio Bravo.
What little hope Madrid had was extinguished by Suarez in the 74th minute. Ramos was again caught too high up the pitch and was slack in returning to the backline. Varane was caught in two minds about who to mark. Suarez got ahead of Ramos and teased Navas out from his goal before delightfully chipping him for Barcelona’s fourth.
75-90 minutes
With the match well and truly over, and the Madridstas whistling, Luis Enrique brought on Munir for Iniesta, one of Barca’s standout players on the night. Barca now had Neymar, Suarez and Munir in a front three with Messi playing in behind them. Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto played in a defensive midfield two. An alternative shape perhaps by the manager?
For whatever reason, Neymar was subjected to some harsh treatment, firstly by Carvajal, who was rewarded with a yellow card for his efforts and then Isco, who was shown a straight red for a chop on the Brazilian that really belonged in a butcher shop. Nonetheless, the Spaniard was applauded off the pitch by the Madrid faithful who felt he had at least tried to do something of note.
As the match petered out, Ronaldo still had time to draw a magnificent save from Bravo who batted away a point blank header from the Portuguese movie star. Munir also missed from close range before the referee put Madrid out of their misery.
Conclusion
Madrid were thoroughly outclassed on the night and whether it was player revolt or the manager trying to make a point, the Merengues will need to sort out their issues quickly if they are to stand any chance of closing the gap to their rivals at the top of the table. Anything can happen, but what was first seen as a period for Barca to battle through following their FIFA-imposed ban now looks to be the bedrock of their season. With Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal still to come into the squad, the Catalan side are sitting pretty and looking nailed on as La Liga winners even as early as November.
The Dirtbag 