From a Real Madrid fan's perspective, I happen not to know how or where to start analyzing last night's El Clasico fixture but do not be deceived by the scoreline, one team played the ball and the other team scored the goals.
This was a chance for Barcelona to reach their sixth consecutive Copa Del Rey final and a chance to win it the fifth consecutive time, a trophy they are beginning to see as their own every season and to add the eternal rivalry between both teams, you were just going to expect a difficult encounter.
Real Madrid's rollercoaster ride of a season meant their chances of winning the match and eliminating a Barcelona that has Lionel Messi in the team was doubted to an extent. Although typical Real Madrid are known to show their mettle in the tough matches just as they did in the first leg against Barcelona and the follow-up league game against Atletico Madrid. The display against Barcelona at the Camp Nou raised confidence and hopes of eliminating the Blaugurana while they visit the Bernabeu but the unbelievablev and a little unsurprising happened last night.
Real Madrid's coach Santiago Solari knew this was a match to be decided by so many factors, the fan's engagement, the coach's tactical brilliance and substitutions, the player's dedication and so on but at the end of the day, Valverde's slow but steady football outwitted that of the Argentine.
Keylor Navas appeared on the sticks for the last big match of his Real Madrid career if the rumours flying around are correct. Captain Sergio Ramos returned to the centre of defence after missing the last match against Levante to suspension. He was partnered by Raphael Varane. Sergio Reguilon was once again preferred to Marcelo on the left back position and Dani Carvajal retained his right-back spot.
Luka Modric and Toni Kroos partnered Casemiro in midfield and Lucas Vasquez was preferred to Gareth Bale on the right flank, Vinicius Junior on the left and Benzema forwarding the attack.
Barcelona's coach Valverde set out with a 4-3-3 that morphed into a 4-1-4-1 on the pitch, with Lionel Messi allowed a free roam. Jordi Alba played at left back, Gerard Pique and Lenglet partnered each other in defence and Nelson Semedo was placed at right back.
Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Roberto made up the midifield base while Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousamane Dembele forwarded the attack.
Barcelona knew of the offensive threats of Real Madrid's players especially their young, fast and energetic winger Vinicius Junior, Valverde instructed his team to pack the midfield and flanks, be patient and pounce on any mistake from the whites.
The match started in a cautious manner for both teams and enveloped into a frantic encounter, with both teams fouling each other and never allowing any space for mistakes. Real Madrid showed they were the better team in the first half, quick and effective on the counter with Vinicius and Sergio Reguilon posing the greater threat on the left wing, pinning Nelson Semedo at the back and creating series of chances begging to be converted. Real Madrid had their chances to score in the first half, with Vinicius breaking the Barcelona defence on several occasions but wasteful with the chances, Benzema on the other hand appeared to have left his goal scoring boots at home, every other thing clicked for the whites in the first half except goal scoring.
Being wasteful against a team like Barcelona will in no doubt, come back to haunt you and it definitely did last night. 50 minutes into the second half, an ineffective Luiz Suarez from the first minute was on hand to shoot into the net from a cut back pass from Dembele on the left wing to go 1-0 up and ahead in aggregate. That moment of poor calculation from Real Madrid and luck on Barcelona's side opened up the match as Real Madrid sought to settle the scores but continued their wastefulness in front of goal added to a wizardly performance from Ter Stegen in between the sticks.
Another brilliant run from Dembele saw him lay a down cross for the on rushing Luis Suarez only for Raphael Varane to turn the ball into his own net whilst stretching out his legs to prevent the Uruguayan from reaching it.
Real Madrid continued to threaten through Vinicius but it was clear they surrendered after that second goal and only looked to prevent Barcelona from adding more salt to injury. It was not to be all from Barcelona and especially a reawakened Luis Suarez as he drew a penalty from Casemiro after the midfielder sluggishly stepped on his foot in the penalty area. The Uruguayan converted the ensuing penalty brilliantly and that was how Real Madrid were sent parking from the Copa Del Rey and the defending champions one step away from making it a fifth successive Spanish cup title.
Conclusion
From a Real Madrid fan's perspective, the lack of finishing from the whites was clearly the cause of this loss set aside the brilliance of Ter Stegen. If we would be more sincere with ourselves, with Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, the scoreline would have been much different and probably in favor of the whites considering the chances created. A goal poacher and adequate finisher is currently lacking in the team as Benzema still has the assist-over-goals spirit in him, Vinicius is still clearly raw and inexperienced in goal scoring just like Marcos Rashford under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United and Lucas Vasquez is clearly about working hard down the flanks than seeking for goal scoring abilities. It takes more than creating chances to win a match, who will finish those chances, place the ball where the keeper would find it difficult to keep out? Selling Cristiano Ronaldo and expecting an injury prone Gareth Bale to replace his average of 50 goals per season is the most ridiculous idea ever and has always been since the Portuguese's departure, a departure that has only been masked with Vinicius' brilliance and Karim's surprising goal scoring form recently which suddenly went wanting again.
Not minding the loss, there are positives to take from this game for Real Madrid like Vinicius clearly showing not to be a player that is going to be drowned in the ocean of high expectations from the Bernabeu faithful. The Brazilian is clearly a work in progress and at just 18 years, he is playing beyond expectations and with much hard work, dedication and mentoring, he might just turn out to be another Cristiano Ronaldo of the next decade.
Another positive note is the replacement of Marcelo. If you do not know Marcelo of the Brazilian team then you are either new to football or never loved football. Are you aware that Marcelo, yes, Marcelo is no longer the undisputed left back at Real Madrid? A young Sergio Reguilon has taken his place and even though the youngster do not offer the offensive threats of Marcelo, he showed last night in his first El Clasico that he is ready to replace the aging Brazilian who was apparently dropped as a result of costing the team due to lack of defensive positioning, something the youngster can provide clearly well.
This is his first loss in every game he has started for Real Madrid this debut season of his and last night, he bombarded the left flank like it was what he was born for and was even unlucky not to be in the score sheet after a brilliant save from Ter Stegen.
These are the few positive notes for Real Madrid from that match, although they have lost a chance for a major trophy this season but they still have two more race to complete, the La Liga and the Champions League. Real Madrid welcome back Barcelona at the Bernabeu for the 2nd leg of the league fixture. Would we witness another win from Barcelona or would we witness a revenge from Real Madrid?
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