Tata Martino got the better of Carlo Ancelotti in their first clásico as Barcelona came out 2-1 winners at the Camp Nou. The main storylines from the match were the referee’s performance and Ancelotti’s tactics, neither of which were very good. Ancelotti opted for Sergio Ramos as the holding midfielder and an attacking three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Ángel Di María. Referee Undiano Mallenco chose not to call what appeared to be a clear penalty by Javier Mascherano on Cristiano Ronaldo that would’ve given Real Madrid the opportunity to tie the game at 1-1.
The Real Madrid attack was in disarray for the entire first half, mostly because Bale was played out of position and Di María had a poor game. Barcelona were more dangerous going forward, and Neymar opened the scoring in the 18th minute after his shot took an unfortunate deflection for keeper Diego López.
In the second half, Ancelotti made the two substitutions that everyone watching could see were necessary from the start. Asier Illarramendi and Karim Benzema replaced Ramos and Bale, and Madrid began to take a better shape and look more dangerous. Cristiano Ronaldo was pushed over in the box by Mascherano but the ref waved it off, to Ronaldo’s fury. It seemed that it just wasn’t Madrid’s day as a few minutes later a thunderous strike from Benzema came back off the crossbar.
Alexis had a moment of brilliance to put Barcelona up 2-0 with a chipped goal over López, who came off his line after a brilliant ball from Neymar got the better of Raphaël Varane. Madrid got a consolation goal from Jesé but it was too little too late and Barcelona earned the 3 points.
Statistics courtesy of Squawka.com
Many have stated that this was a clásico lacking quality, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it was lacking attacking quality. Part of that was down to the great defending and goalkeeping that the teams exhibited for most of the match. Both keepers had minor blunders on the goals but were very solid for the most part. López could have been better positioned on Alexis’ goal but it’s hard to fault the keeper on such a brilliant individual effort from the Chilean. The Madrid keeper also did well to keep out a few other Barcelona shots that could’ve made the scoreline much worse. Valdés might have gotten down to stop Jesé’s shot but he was outstanding overall and the game was all but over at that point.
Despite the uncalled penalty, Barcelona were superior on the day and can say they deserved to win the match. They were not dominant by any means, though, and if Madrid had shown more effort in the first half or had a few breaks go their way in the second, the outcome could have been very different. Bale was put in a difficult situation by Ancelotti and was unable to make an impact. The Ramos experiment in the midfield was a disaster and he could’ve been sent off after several fouls on Andrés Iniesta.
The loss does put Real Madrid in a tough spot as they are now 6 points behind Barcelona and already have La Liga losses to both the Blaugrana and the other apparent title challenger, Atlético Madrid. Ancelotti will hopefully learn from his mistakes and be more prepared for Barcelona the next time. Martino, on the other hand, showed a tactical acumen that makes his doubters from the summer look silly. The Argentine manager has proved he isn’t afraid to change Barcelona’s style in the search for a victory.
Gareth Bale was clearly outshone by Neymar, but it’s important to remember that the former had no preseason and isn’t 100% match fit, while the latter was with Barcelona all summer and has been integrated to perfection by Martino. Like Luka Modrić last year, Bale will need time to adapt to Madrid and more minutes to reach full fitness. It is unwise to deliver a verdict on his transfer at this point in time.
There are plenty of La Liga games ahead, but Ancelotti will need to figure out his best formation and starting XI quickly or he will be engulfed by the pressure that comes with managing at the Santiago Bernabéu. The return of Xabi Alonso looks like it can’t come soon enough for Madrid, but the Basque maestro may make his return on Wednesday at home to Sevilla.
Martino won round one, but Ancelotti is an experienced manager and should be able to adapt. Both of these teams must improve if they wish to take the ultimate prize, the Champions League, back from Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich.