El Clasico: 3 ways Real Madrid can beat Messi-less Barcelona at Camp Nou
Real Madrid is travelling to Camp Nou this weekend for the most celebrated game of football - El Clasico. Both the teams are not at their vintage best this season. Comparatively, Barcelona have sorted out their initial jitters and playing a better football at the moment. They are the clear favorites to win this game.
Real Madrid is struggling in front of goals, and they are longing for an attacking leader after Ronaldo's exit. A defeat against Barcelona will most-likely result in Lopetegui's sacking. Hence, Real Madrid players must to give their best to beat the Catalan giants at their own backyard.
Here is the list of three important strategies that will help Lopetegui's Real Madrid beat Barcelona at Camp Nou.
#1 Deploy Casimero to man-mark Jordi Alba
Challenge
Jordi Alba has been a force to reckon with this season for the Catalan giants. Though Barcelona started the season in lacklustre fashion, Alba never looked out of form throughout the campaign. He was their main source of attack.
In the recently concluded Champions League game against Inter Milan at home, 41% of Barcelona's attack came from the right. Barcelona's strategy was to start from the left through Alba and drift inside the 18-yard box through Coutinho. Alba scored a goal and also provided a whopping 101 passes in the game against Inter Milan. He was their most influential player on the match.
Barcelona will be laying out a plan to follow a similar strategy against Real Madrid too. Dani Carvajal is an attack-minded right-back which will open up lot of space for Alba to flash into the attacking third.
Strategy to adopt
Lopetegui must clearly instruct Dani Carvajal to keep an eye on Alba when he attacks. Also, Casemiro should be deployed to man-mark the left-back which in-turn will help Carvajal to freely attack.
Casemiro is one of the most impressive central midfielders in the world. He is reliable in stopping the opposition's attack by cutting passes and forward runs. He was even called as an antidote to Messi for his special man-marking ability.
Through blocking Alba's passes, Madrid can starve Barcelona of their free-flowing football.