Barcelona stepped on to the Camp Nou pitch last night clearly determined to prove a point against their biggest rivals, and at the full time whistle the point was well and truly proved. Barcelona beat Jose Mourinho’s Madrid to a pulp, completely dominating throughout and winning 5-0. It was a complete masterclass in pressing and keeping possession that was way too much for Real to handle.
Real Madrid have spent heavily over the past couple of seasons with the aim of besting Barcelona in the league. They shelled out €70m and €95m on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively in 2009. Jose Mourinho has improved the squad even further with the signings of Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria and Sami Khedira. Before last night Real Madrid were a point ahead of their rivals, unbeaten in all competitions and had the best defensive record of all Europe’s top teams. However, Monday night’s game at the Camp Nou may have shown the world that there are some things that you cannot buy.
Last night the Barcelona team were superb all across the pitch, with David Villa proving that he is a perfect fit for this team as so many predicted before the season, but three certain individuals were simply unplayable. Andreas Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi gave Real Madrid’s superstars a lesson that they are unlikely to forget for a long time. Barcelona’s philosophy and style cannot be replicated with money alone, and the apparent telepathy that this trio possess can only be achieved with time and care.
With the home crowd’s chants of ‘Ole’ ringing in their ears, the Real Madrid midfield could barely maintain their balance as they watched Xavi, Iniesta and Messi run rings around them time and time again. One touch, two touch, twisting, turning and impossible to stop, this trio left the Madrid players dazed and confused, desperate to go home long before Jeffren grabbed the fifth goal. Messi and Iniesta jinked passed challenges all night, while Xavi gave his World Cup winning team-mate Xabi Alonso a masterclass in passing and keeping the ball.
Barcelona were wonderful with and without the ball, constantly pressing and forcing Real into making mistakes and giving the ball away. A pressing game however is only effective if you can retain the ball once it has been won back. This is of course no problem for Barca’s irresistible trio, they could have kept the ball all night if they so wished. Some may argue that Real Madrid were poor last night, but I would say that Barcelona were unplayable and Jose Mourinho’s team did well to only concede five.
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