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A look back at Barcelona’s win in ‘El Clasico’

Lionel Messi (ISIphotos.com)

FC Barcelona took a major step toward retaining its Spanish First Division title on Saturday by beating Real Madrid, 2-0, in Madrid in the latest installment of 'El Clasico'.

The victory pushes Barcelona three points clear of Real Madrid and pushes Madrid one step closer to a trophy-less season after a record-setting summer of spending.

For those of you who missed it, or for those of you who just want to see them again, here are the highlights:

What did you think of the match? Surprised how easily Barcelona disposed of Real Madrid? Think Barca will be repeating as La Liga and Champions League winners again? Wonder if Cristiano Ronaldo regrets leaving Manchester United?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. This is the only game worth watching in La liga. Messi & Xavi are just nasty to the fullest, too bad Messi can’t perform in the same way in a Argentinian uniform.lol

    Barca is having a great season and by far is the best team in the world when the stats are folded, but the level of teams they face in la Liga are pathetic so I’m a bit hesitant to crown a team that only see’s one real powerhouse team in their league the whole year.

    VIVA XAVI though! 🙂

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  2. Lump Real Madrid with the rest of the worlds’ teams that cannot beat a team operating under a flawlessly executed system. Real can beat teams with lesser talent because it fields great players, but it doesn’t have a system — its players don’t have an overarching idea about what they are collectively supposed to be doing (or if they do, its anyone’s guess what that might be). The great teams do. Barca plays a possession game that Arsenal attempts to play. Brazil offers a world beating counter attack. Italy is famous for its staunch defending at the expense of sustained offense. Plug the right players into these systems, keep them healthy, get team buy-in, and away you go. “Collection of talent” teams — see Argentina in its current state — may be able to win here and there when the other side has an off day, but teams that are not built around a consistent strategy will never see consistency in results. That is the lesson — Barca more or less plays the same brand of football every year, regardless of the manager, and if they repeat as Spanish and European Champs this year, we are witnessing not only the greatest side ever, but perhaps the end of the debate about how best to play football.

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  3. Erik, Yes… a striker. I didn’t say they “only” needed a striker. A defensive mid-fielder would be good as well. My point is that Higuain, though a potent scorer at times, disapears in big games. Simple as that. And thus it is not surprising to hear (yesterday) that Pellegrini is trying to bring in either Rooney (that won’t happen), Villa, or Navas. Raul is past his prime and Benzema might be out the door come summer. Manchester City started the season by buying 4 strikers, and at least one of them will be gone this summer. Sometimes plan “A” doesn’t work out and you have to move to plan “B.”

    You make a good point about Barcelona’s youth system. It’s a shame the whole Barcelona team can’t win the Ballon d’Or this year.

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  4. Really? RM need another striker? Where could he possibly fit alongside CR, Kaka, Benzema, Higuain. surely they have bigger needs, like a defensive midfielder…

    When Messi is dominating like the past few weeks, it’s pretty clear what the difference is from his Argentina development. He is so in sync with teammates and used to playing with the quality and vision of Xavi (and Iniesta), and the Cruyff system & philosophy he has been raised in since a kid. FCB finished the match with 8 players on the pitch raised in their La Masia academy. Not only is this unique among the top teams, but surely contributes to the players knowing how to play with each other, and in the same style.
    Anyway, beautiful to watch. Inter will be a tough test though.

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  5. I thought the way that Barcelona beat the offsides trap on Messi’s goal was positively brilliant. The forward was left up and RM’s defense pressed forward to create the trap, at the same time as RM’s defense moved forward Messi made his run while Xavi released the pass over the defense, the forward moved away from the play (as to not interfere) leaving the defense helpless and Messi one on one with the keeper. The pass and run were absolutely priceless.

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  6. No reply from “I’ve never made it to a Barcelona match and can’t really even afford a ticket to an MLS match Joe” ?

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  7. You’re right, and Messi deserves it. His dribbling, finishing ability, and off-the-ball movement is spectacular. I just feel that Xavi is the the more important player. If Higauin (despite my criticism) and Ronaldo received the service every game that Messi receives, there would be different headlines coming out of Spain: and the argument over who is the best player in the world would still be exactly that… an argument.

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  8. Maybe Xavi should, but Messi will win the Ballon d’Or.

    Averaging almost a goal per game for the season will do that for a player.

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  9. Here are two truisms to sum up the match:

    1. Higuain is rubbish in big games (i.e. Lyon, Barcelona). Pellegrini needs to Bring in a clutch striker like Villa over the Summer.

    2. Xavi should win the Ballon d’ Or this year. I’m sick of hearing about Messi’s brilliance. What would Michael Jordan have been without Scottie Pippen: perhaps still the greatest player in the world, but not a reigning champion.

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  10. dude, way to completely miss the point. im not saying “if this or that”. in fact, i said i’m NOT going to do that and never even typed the word “if”. what i DID say was that Madrid should have done better with their chances. i never said they would have won if they did this. i pointed out the fact that they couldnt finish their chances. nothing more, nothing less. you can put words in my mouth if you want.

    Tim responded saying Barca had more chances and I was correcting that info and stated a simple fact that with better finishing the game may have been better for them…but we’ll never know.

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  11. Wow, joey, settle down there. If MLS was so worthless how did Barca ever getting into something so foolish as to sign a long term partnership with the league?? Oh, I get it. They’re probably worthless then too aren’t they! Get a life and an English dictionary. I’m sure even a twit you can find other words to use.

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  12. Metro,

    That is be beauty of their game. On those plays to the back of the defense for the center pass they sometimes throw 4 or 5 players as target, or sometimes they will hurt you with just one.

    As far a formations, it is more in the mold to the total football introduced by the Dutch (Cruyff set the philosophy for La Masia) where players can perform in many positions within a game. If you did not notice, towards the end of the game, Xavi was playing up front with Pedro and Messi was back in the midfield. How do you keep track of your mark if you are a defender?

    Cheers

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  13. If, if, if, if….

    If my grandmother was not dead she would be alive. In soccer, goals that are not scored do not count.

    Cheers

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  14. I am neither a fan of Real Madrid nor a fan of Barcelona. Messi is borderline unstoppable! However, I can’t figure out what type of Formation Barcelona uses in midfield and attack. It is just too hard to follow it. When they attack, they seem to have about 8 players involvded, when they defend, at times they move 9 players behind the line of the ball. Tha is an excessive movement of players in midfiel and attack.

    One thing seems to be apparent, this coach Guardiola seems to be a genius, or something approaching it. Since he took over, they have won parctically everything that they have participated in. Sure they have Messi, but Barcelona always had at least two or three of the best players in the world and they were never as dominating as they are right now. Messi is the key, but I thing Guardiola has a lot to do with it.

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  15. that just isn’t even true. Madrid had twice as many shots on and off goal…16(7)-8(4).

    the truth is, Madrid had many more chances to score, but didn’t. if they had, it could have changed the game entirely. but there is no point in talking about what could have happened. barca finished, madrid did not. but those fans that point out all the missed chances (like myself) do have a point. those missed chances absolutely could have changed the game.

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  16. This game can be summed up in one analogy:

    Xavi and Messi were the school bullies who stole Cristiano Ronaldo’s lunch money.

    And what is in the water at Barcelona’s youth academy? They have so many academy players who are making it to the first team. I love Pedro, he’s a fascinating player who plays with a lot of energy and is very physical for such a little guy.

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  17. hahaha absolutely i will, and it’ll be a blast! meanwhile, you keep trolling sites and telling other people they are worthless.

    $20 beers?!

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  18. The only successor is Iniesta — Cesc is great, but a different kind of player. Xavi’s vision in unparalleled; I’m not sure that anyone else in the world makes those two passes for their two goals.

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  19. I still believe Real Madrid still had some opportunities to get a result in this game. I felt van der Vaart and Higuian had poor games, and once Guti was subbed in the second half, Real did look better.

    All credit to Barcelona for going into the Bernabeu and getting the win, but things could have turned out different for Real with some better lineup choices and a higher level of concetration on defense.

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  20. Is there any player in the world right now with the vision and touch as Xavi? Many think Cesc will be his natural successor. I guess we’ll see.

    The most striking thing about Barcelona is how they make great players like Xabi Alonso look pedestrian.

    But probably the fact the gives me the most pleasure when I watch Barcelona play is seeing all these small players like Xavi, Messi, Iniesta, Pedro, Boyan, Jeffren put on a clinic. All I can do is laugh at those posters that keep harping about how wonderful it would be if the US had Lebron and the likes kicking a ball instead.

    Cheers

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  21. tough game to watch as a Madrid fan. but once again, Madrid showed their inability to finish their chances when it counted. 8 saves in the second half. granted valdes deserves credit as well, but Madrid really just didn’t finish like you think they would.

    much like what happened against Lyon.

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  22. Nice post.

    Did you trade in your Man U shirt for a Barca one ?

    I don’t really get the question of Ronaldo regretting leaving Man U…..Why would he have regrets? They played a better team tough.

    Both teams teams are in second in the joke they call their leagues and both teams are out of the Champions league race.

    Are you thinking he is missing that great English food ?

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  23. This has got to be one of the most ridiculous comments I’ve seen on this site. Please do us a favor and head over to Big Soccer where these types of comments are not only typical but actually appreciated!

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  24. Barcelona is by far the best team right now and should walk away with CL and La Liga.

    But if anyone can confound Barcelona’s beautiful game and win ugly – it’s the Special One.

    Reply

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