5 reasons why Barcelona has dominated El Clasico in recent times

#4 Consistency in coaching

Valverde has out-coached his Real Madrid rivals

“Pass and move” is a pattern of play that virtually every player who has worn the Blaugrana shirt understands.

This style achieved its most majestic heights under the glorious reign of Pep Guardiola (2008-2013). However, the coaches after him have also continued this pattern to varying degrees of success.

Tata Martino and the late Tito Villanova were not as successful in playing this style. Luis Enrique’s dumping of this was a huge part of why the Camp Nou never truly fell in love with him.

The style; tiki-taka has found new life under Ernesto Valverde and domestically, has continued to yield results. Despite the protestations of silly Cules on social media, the former Bilbao manager has shown more tactical astuteness than Zidane, Lopetegui, and Solari in recent Clasico games.

This is not so for the white half of Madrid. Jose Mourinho & Rafa Benitez’s defense-first philosophy has been in sharp contrast to the Laissez-faire style of Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.

Ironically, the style of the latter two men has yielded 4 UEFA Champions League titles.

Julen Lopetegui wanted to evolve the style to suit the players at the club presently but was sacked too soon in the aftermath of the 5-1 El Clasico thrashing earlier this season. Solari’s style has been difficult to decipher though he seems to be toeing the line of Ancelotti and Zidane by being more of a man manager than a coach.

For Real to get back on even footing with their great rivals, the coaching will need to be consistent over a period of time. This may not be possible due to Don Perez’s trigger-happy nature.