OKBET UEFA Football – 3 takeaways from Barcelona’s El Clasico defeat
Barcelona was second best throughout Real Madrid’s 3-1 defeat. Los Blancos played effectively in the heat, knowing when to attack and when to defend.
Both teams’ goals were also indicative of where they are right now. In all three of their goals, Real Madrid exploited the counter to their manager. Barcelona’s glaring vulnerability continues to be the counter-attack.
The Blaugrana’s goal came as a result of Ansu Fati’s individual talent, which resulted in a cross that eventually found Ferran Torres.
Sergio Busquets is no longer Barcelona’s midfield cornerstone
Sergio Busquets was one of the players who received the most criticism in the aftermath of the Inter Milan tie. The 34-year-old threw over the ball for Inter’s second goal and was substituted in the second half.
He was given the start against Real Madrid once more, demonstrating that he is no longer at the level necessary to compete in such games. Busquets was partially to blame for Madrid’s first goal. Busquets failed to commit the foul on Toni Kroos because the Catalan defense was high. He was tugging on Kroos’ shirt, but it wasn’t enough to knock him down, allowing the German to slip in the ball to Vinicius Jr., who eventually scored.
He was sluggish to recover in the second, and instead of keeping in front of the defense, defending against a shot from beyond the box, he chose to drift and stay inside the box, enabling Federico Valverde all alone to blast through the second.
He was replaced early in the second half, which might be the final nail in his coffin as an unquestioned starter for Barcelona.
The issue with Lewandowski and the wingers
Robert Lewandowski found himself on an island once more. Despite scoring twice in the Champions League in midweek, he was denied service throughout the encounter and had to drop deep to get a touch on the ball.
It’s no secret that Barcelona would like to have him inside or close to the box to take advantage of his deadly finishing.
The poor form of both wingers, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha, is one of the reasons he’s forced to play so deep. Aside from one or two plays, both players were underwhelming. The Brazilian was replaced by Ferran Torres in the second half.
Because of their explosiveness on the sides, Xavi’s insistence on playing them makes sense. They were paying dividends up to the last month.
They’ve failed to have the same impact on games since the international break, which explains Lewandowski’s drop in goal scoring. It’s difficult to have much of an influence if he’s not getting any service.
The additions of Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati improved the team’s appearance. They looked little better when all of the subs were added. This was emphasized by Xavi during his post-match press conference.
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