It was a fantastic game yesterday. So many undertones on a packed full Bernabeu poised to make the most out of a missing Messi, and Casemiro. Games like this used to end with a couple of words, really; Messi or Ronaldinho come to mind, for example. So, just not to lose protocol, lets choose two: I would be forced to say, Bravo, Iniesta, Bravo!
But there were others. Many, many others. "Suárez is not a good player" is one. "Pañolazo!" another. Both of them related to Madrid's President. The first sentence phrased by Perez last year, the second the act of showing (white) handkerchiefs as a sign of measurable discontent at the spectacle.
A game which headline was already written: In-form Madrid downs Messiless Barza. But instead it was a concert; unpredictably Barcelona's best performance of the season; not flawless, but flawless. The back-heels, the counter pressing, the goals. Those goals. The coldness in finishing while inside the box.
Has anyone else noticed Madrid, past the halfway line, never makes a pass running at less than 10km/h while Barza never makes a pass running at higher than 5? La Masia scored the first goal, the linesmen assisted on the second, Iniesta had the Bernabeu on his hands on the third. From then on everyone was only reading the credits, and looking for the exit.
They say pictures speak a thousand words, and they certainly do. Forcefully. Every single goal by the wine and blue was followed by an extended shot at Ronaldo as to say he was the coach, the leader. An opinion poll put him on equal terms, more or less, than Benitez and Perez on the witness stand. But he didn't have a bad match, did he? It would be easy to blame anyone of the players for such performance but, do any of them really deserve it? I mean, how could you possibly blame the front and back four for a game with no midfielders.
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There was so much space between the front four (comprised of the BBC plus "don't call me James" Rodriguez) and the back four Benitez actually made the impossible possible: He managed to make both Kroos and Modric disappear. An act of perfectly defiance to FIFA rules Benitez actually played with a goal keeper and only 8 infield players. The back four was so stretched they gave zonal marking a new meaning and offside a rule as important as in basketball.
In turn Barcelona handled the throat high pressing extremely well, finding triangles on their own first third and avoiding those pitfalls Mourinho tried to exploit as well during his time at the Bernabeu. So, did it work for Benitez this time? Hardly. And then James gets subbed.
One announcer, in trying to figuring out the reasoning behind the sub, asked the Spaniard next. "Wut? Hames?" (Rodriguez says his name is pronounced Hames, not "James" like Bond) Silence. A lot more silence. Then a goal; by Barza.
The two announcers, one an Argentinian was having a triple X episode of exuberance and the more coldly headed Spaniard were trying to figure out who the MOTM was. (One thing was for certain, Munir was the complete flop. Ed.) Sergi Roberto - Suarez - Neymar - Bravo. It was very easy to spring up a name and get all sorts of approval gestures.
Then Iniesta got subbed. As he walked out, he completed the circle of Barcelona players getting applauded by the Madrid filled Bernabeu as a sign of respect. The audience, I though, had spoken.
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