El Clasico: Real Madrid 2-3 FC Barcelona - Tactical Analysis

Barcelona earned all the bragging rights in El Clasico as they came from behind to beat their bitter rivals Real Madrid 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Lionel Messi scored his 500^th and 501^st goals in a Barca shirt as well as pushing his El Clasico tally to 23 strikes – more than anyone in history.

The win was always going to be important, such is the history and prestige of the fixture, but it was doubly special on the night because it was an opportunity for Luis Enrique’s men to open up the title race again. And boy, did they do just that!

Zinedine Zidane will surely be very disappointed at how his Madrid side imploded, so let’s take a look at how they threw away a 1-0 lead.

Casemiro kept Messi quiet… for a while

Messi scored two classy goals to win the game for his team

It was clear from the off that Los Blancos intended to rough Barcelona up whenever they could.

Casemiro was one of the key enforcers, and he managed to keep Messi quiet for a time, until indiscipline ultimately cost them the match when Sergio Ramos was dismissed from the field of play late on.

The 12^th minute saw Madrid’s midfielder booked for a nasty challenge on La Pulga, a role he continued to carry out until Zizou was forced to substitute him for fear he would get a second yellow. It wasn’t the prettiest of tactics, but it proved relatively effective for the opening 30 minutes, until the Argentine sensation stole in to finish a wondrous team goal to pull his side back level, slaloming through the defenders before guiding the ball home.

It wasn’t simply a case of ‘get the ball to Messi’ from Barca, and that was because Casemiro was upon him at every chance he could, but when their record goal-scorer did skip away to find a yard of space here and there, the result was spectacular.

Had Casemiro been a better tackler, he might have avoided a caution until later on and been able to stay on the pitch to more effect into the latter stages, but he was withdrawn, something which saw Barca afforded even more space.

For the winning goal, Messi was allowed to drift, completely unmarked, into the box, before firing a sweet shot past Keylor Navas. It signalled his genius once again and proved the Madrid were naïve to think they could shut him down with a bit of rough injustice.

Barca dealt with pressing opponents as they know best

For most people, they say possession is nine-tenths of the law, but for Barcelona, it’s more like 100 percent.

Such is life as a Barcelona fan, one expects them to dominate the ball, and that was precisely what they did during the week. While it hasn’t always been effective against a team who look to sit in, hassle them and use cynical tactics, they found their rhythm last night – and a Barca team on their game are always a danger.

At the Bernabeu, they moved the ball with precision, speed and cleverness. Often, they picked out exactly the right ball at the perfect moment, something summed up by their first and final goals.

Their opener was perhaps the standout (although Ivan Rakitic’s effort was also a contender for goal of the game) as it reminded us that this side can still play tiki-taka stuff when they want to. It really was a stylish team goal.

Popping the ball around with a series of one-touch passes, combined with the patience of a predator in wait, they lulled Madrid’s defence out of position, limited their ability to lunge in with a tackle and got themselves out of a really tight jam.

It was the same for much of the game, and although Madrid battled valiantly to conjure a fightback, (something Zizou and the introduced James Rodriguez deserve massive credit for) Barca were always going to have one last good opportunity to score with the extra space – they had exposed Madrid when it was XI vs. XI and they did it just as brilliantly when Los Blancos went a man down.

Madrid were too defensive for Ronaldo’s effect

Ronaldo wasn’t at his best on Sunday

Zidane has often been lauded for his excellent tactics, but he let himself down in the biggest game on the planet with a rather naïve approach.

Their set-up not only hurt his reputation, but it hurt their ability to get the ball to their main threat, Cristiano Ronaldo, as often as they liked.

When they did find him, he was unusually off form. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner had a couple of decent chances in the opening 45 minutes, but it wasn’t until following the restart when Karim Benzema and Marco Ascensio combined to feed Ronaldo who, with the goal at his mercy, fluffed his lines.

The writing should have been on the wall when Gareth Bale went off injured late in the first period, but with Ronaldo on the field, there is always a chance of a goal. As it turned out, it was as if the pressure got to him. Ultimately, though, he wasn’t given the ball in dangerous areas often enough, couldn’t feed off on rebounds and was left frustrated at the final whistle.

Another factor that played a massive role was how excellent Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was – he produced save after save, and wasn’t at fault for the opener.

The La Liga title race is wide open now.