Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid: Tactical Analysis

Despite the Premier League being the “global league” in terms of visibility and a hold on the football market in numerous countries, there’s one game that supersedes all of the Premier League games. That of course is none other than ‘El Clasico’, the highly charged game between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

From severed pig heads to eye pokes (yes Mourinho, we still remember that one) this fixture has a knack of producing high and sometimes downright bizarre drama. In between all the political undercurrents of this fixture, there is some scarily good football that is on show when the 2 sides battle it out.

How the teams lined up

The Barcelona team lined up as expected in a 4-3-3 with Fabregas playing as a false 9 flanked on either side by Messi and Neymar. Adriano filled in at left back. On the other hand, Ancelotti’s team lined up with a couple of changes that not many would have predicted. Benzema was dropped to the bench and Morata didn’t even figure on the bench. Instead Ancelotti opted for a fluid 3 man attack of Di Maria, Ronaldo and Bale. In midfield, Sergio Ramos was the surprise inclusion alongside Modric and Khedira.

Madrid’s defensive set-up

Real Madrid’s deep defensive set up

With the game being at Nou Camp, you’d expect Real to sit back and absorb the pressure and hit Barca on the counter. When Barca had the ball, it was a common sight to see the Madrid back 4 pinned back deep within their own half. Another notable feature was that the midfield trio were often joined by 1 of the 3 attacking players when Barcelona was in position leaving the remaining 2 players higher up the pitch. This in essence created 2 banks of 4 (used so effectively by Chelsea to contain Barca a couple of years back) and was supposed to provide both defensive solidity and a threat on the counter using the pace of Ronaldo and Bale. Unfortunately for a Madrid point of view, neither aim materialized in a disappointing 1st half.