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EL CLASICO MATCH ANALYSIS: REAL MADRID 2-1 BARCELONA
- Mohamed Fathalli
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
The first El Clásico of the season had everything you’d expect from a potential title-deciding fixture: goals, a missed penalty, disallowed goals, a red card, and even a brawl during and after the game between the players. With Madrid emerging victorious thanks to Mbappé and Bellingham’s goals, one can conclude that Real Madrid are now the favorites to clinch the La Liga title, despite how long the season still is. However, the final score is not the only indicator of Alonso’s title chances, there was much more that tipped the scale in his favor.
A Chameleon Without the Ball:
We don’t talk much about 3-2-2-3 or 3-2-4-1. It’s more about what we think might happen in the game and where we should be to gain an advantage.” These were Xabi Alonso’s words during his Bayer Leverkusen. During El Clásico, the idea behind those words unfolded clearly on the pitch.
At different points in the game and under varying states of play, Real Madrid pressed in a 4-4-2 high block, with Vinícius and Camavinga pulling wide, Arda Güler stepping up alongside Mbappé, and both Bellingham and Tchouaméni marking Pedri and De Jong.
The aim here was to force Barcelona wide and long by completely shutting down their central progression, which Real Madrid successfully did, mainly due to Mbappé and, especially, Güler, who kept Barcelona’s pivot players in their shadow cover, preventing Barcelona from attempting bounce passes or the usual up-back-through patterns they rely on.
To counter this, Hansi Flick had both Fermín López and Lamine Yamal rotate and drop deeper on Barcelona’s right-hand side to create an overload in that area. This didn’t work from goal kicks, as Real Madrid were better positioned during restarts. Carreras stepped up to press Fermín, and Huijsen pushed forward to follow Yamal, while the rest of the backline went man-to-man against the remaining Barça forwards.
However, this exact strategy almost resulted in a goal for Barcelona in the second half during open play. Vinícius, who was supposed to press Koundé, went after Cubarsí instead, forcing Arda Güler to vacate the middle and causing confusion for Huijsen, who hesitated between stepping up to Fermín or staying with Yamal. That split-second hesitation allowed Lamine to receive, turn, and slip Fermín through with the outside of his foot, creating a 3v2 situation against Madrid’s last line that ultimately wasn’t taken advantage of.
However, this was a “one-off” situation, and Barcelona didn’t really slice through Real Madrid’s high press. In reality, they suffered 33 danger zone losses while trying to play out from the back, as Madrid won 52% of their ground duels, with Camavinga, Tchouaméni, Bellingham, and the entire backline applying immediate pressure on the ball carrier to force play backward or regain possession.
The sequence leading up to Real Madrid’s missed penalty perfectly summed up their pressing approach. Mbappé, Bellingham, Valverde, and Camavinga all pressed aggressively on Barcelona’s left-hand side to negate the wide triangle of Balde, Pedri, and Rashford, and from there, the turnover took place, one that Bellingham converted into a penalty.
While Barcelona might have been able to play through or around Madrid’s block at times, they struggled whenever they tried to play over it. The issue was that they had no real outlet or reference points, with both Raphinha and Lewandowski absent. It’s safe to say that Valverde and Militão dominated their duels against Rashford and Ferran Torres, making it difficult for Barcelona to bypass Real Madrid’s high press consistently.
In fact, Mbappé’s disallowed volley in the 11th minute came after Barcelona attempted to launch the ball over Madrid’s high press. From there, Militão comfortably dealt with Ferran to win the first contact, with others like Camavinga, Tchouaméni, and Arda contesting the second balls.
Obviously, Real Madrid didn’t suffocate Barcelona with their high press for the full 90 minutes. After all, Barcelona finished the game with 68% possession. Instead, Madrid picked and chose the moments to initiate their high press from the very compact mid-block they had set up.
Looking at the lineup and certain phases of play, one might assume that Alonso used a 4-4-2 shape to block the middle and force Barcelona wide. However, as mentioned earlier, Alonso doesn’t talk about “shapes.” Madrid’s defensive structure shifted depending on where the ball was and which player had it. For example, if the ball was with Balde on the left-hand side, Tchouaméni was content to leave Fermín free and drop into the backline, forming a lopsided 5-3-2. Once the ball moved back toward the center, either to Cubarsí or De Jong, Tchouaméni would push into midfield to mark Fermín or follow Pedri, allowing Huijsen to step out from the backline to mark Barça’s number 10.
The aim behind this was to negate the progressive abilities of players like Cubarsí, De Jong, and Pedri by marking the central options once they received the ball in dangerous areas. By doing so, Barcelona were forced backward, triggering Real Madrid’s high press whenever Cubarsí was on the ball in deeper zones or when possession was played back to the goalkeeper.
However, this “fluid” approach out of possession has its consequences, just like any other strategy in football.
In some instances, Real Madrid were caught between phases, particularly when transitioning from their mid-block to the high press. For example, Arda Güler, who was part of the pivot players at the start of this sequence, had too much distance to cover in order to press Cubarsí. With Tchouaméni also stepping high, Huijsen was forced to move up onto Fermín.
However, the delay caused by Arda’s distance allowed Cubarsí to find Koundé comfortably. From there, Huijsen had to abandon Fermín and track the run in behind, which resulted in Barcelona manipulating Madrid’s block and playing through it by finding Fermín between the lines.
Camavinga Right Wing Arc?
It’s common knowledge that Camavinga is capable of playing across different positions—but as a right wing? That’s a new one. As explained earlier, Camavinga was vital to Real Madrid’s pressing scheme from that position, providing the legs, physicality, and endurance to jump and trap Barcelona on their left-hand side. He was also crucial in working with Valverde to contain Balde and Rashford, two players who can pose a real threat with their pace and power. However, defensive solidity wasn’t the only reason behind the Frenchman’s deployment on the right wing, which brings us to Madrid’s approach in possession.
Looking at the passing maps, it’s clear how little Real Madrid relied on central progression compared to their wide play. The idea was to circulate around Barcelona’s central press and then switch play after overloading one side of the pitch to isolate the other, particularly Vinícius on the left-hand side.
In some instances, Madrid achieved this by having Camavinga, Bellingham, Arda, and even Tchouaméni drift to the right to draw Barcelona’s players in. From there, Camavinga was able to retain possession under pressure before using his left foot to find passes inside or switch play toward Carreras and the isolated Vini.
That was exactly how Madrid scored their first goal. They overloaded their left-hand side from a throw-in, then switched play toward Camavinga, who was able to find the pass inside with his left foot. What made all the difference after that was Bellingham’s double movement to separate from his marker, his skill in detaching from the presser, and his vision and perfectly weighted pass to play Mbappé through to open the scoring.
The same could be said for the second goal, as Vinícius was found isolated on the left following a set piece.
Vinícius’ Not-So-Justified Anger?
Vinícius Jr. was subbed off in the 72nd minute and showed clear signs of discontent with his manager’s decision. However, Rodrygo’s inclusion made perfect sense at that point, even though it almost cost Xabi Alonso in a particular moment.
Alonso needed to make substitutions after the immense effort every one of his players had put in on the pitch. He also needed to maintain an outlet for transitions once he decided to drop the block in the closing stages of the game. Rodrygo was the perfect profile for that role, and with Vini showing signs of fatigue, it was the right call to avoid any lapses in concentration from the Brazilian, especially with Koundé starting to get more adventurous with his runs and positioning, creating dangerous 2v2 situations on the right-hand side.
Rodrygo, on the other hand, brought much-needed energy to press the ball in that area while also tracking Koundé’s deep runs consistently, preventing Barcelona’s wide duo from overloading Carreras. However, it should be noted that this change almost cost Alonso. A miscommunication between Rodrygo and his left-back in the closing stages of the game allowed Koundé to receive a dangerous ball over the top, though it ultimately didn’t cause Madrid any harm.
As mentioned at the beginning, the result might tip the scale in Alonso’s favor. However, this game revealed far more than just a scoreline. Xabi’s willingness to mold his team’s structure, both with and without the ball, to counter specific threats proved decisive. Whether it was reshaping his defensive block to nullify Barcelona’s central progression or using wide overloads, a wrong-footed winger in Camavinga, and switches to exploit Flick’s high line, Real Madrid looked like a side capable of bending to the game’s rhythm while still maintaining control.
Flick, by contrast, remained wedded to his principles: central play, positional rotations, and high central pressing. Yet he found his system exposed by a Madrid side that anticipated and dismantled those very patterns.
The question now is whether Flick will find solutions to what’s becoming a recurring weakness every opponent seems eager to target, or if it’s already too late, with Xabi’s Madrid improving with every passing game.
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