Overview
It took 75 minutes for this year's 4th El Clasico to produce a spark of excitement. Before Messi's instinctive tap-in which gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead, Pinto (Barcelona's reserve keeper), Pepe, and Mourinho had all been sent off. Also there were yellow cards for Arbeloa, Ramos (suspended for the second leg), Dani Alves, and Mascherano. Adebayor could have been sent off for a crazy charge on the controversial Busquests, but then Madrid's misery ended when Messi dribbled a bunch of Galaticos defenders to slot in the goal that probably eliminates Mourinho's men from this years Champions League.
Player Positions
Real Madrid started the match with no out and out striker, which was successful against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey. As a result, Ronaldo and Di Maria were the only players that really had any action on the opposition half.
Barcelona on the other hand had an average of 5 players on Madrid’s half. Messi, Villa, Pedro, Keita, and Xavi all had average ball touches above their half way line.
This was typically Barcelona’s style of play, and in conclusion Real Madrid’s counter attacking tactics were limited due to their main focus of pressing Barcelona fast and tight.
Shot Directions
Real Madrid attempted 83% of their shots through the middle, 17% on the left side and 0% on the right. Puyol played on Madrid’s right side (0% shots), he did not venture off in attack the whole match leaving that side a fortress. Dani Alves on the other hand was playing almost as a winger, and that allowed Marcelo and Di Maria to advance a bit.
Barcelona had a very balanced shot direction approach. They had 25% on the left and right sides, and 50% through the middle. It’s not a surprise that Barcelona can effectively attack on both flanks.
Pass Types
Barcelona completely dominated ball possession (77%) and overall passing. It is not new to see these figures for Barcelona, but they had an average pass streak of 9, while short passes where 720 to 180 in Barcelona’s favour. Real Madrid did edge out in long balls, 53 to 36, but this clearly shows they had no other ideas.
Star Player Comparison
Without doubt, there can be no argument about the man of the match. Messi finished the match with a statistical rating of 9.9 while Ronaldo could only manage a 6.8. Besides the obvious 2 goals scored by Messi, he beat Ronaldo on dribbles (9 to 1), touches (89 to 55), and pass accuracy (91% to 79%). Ronaldo did have 4 shots to Messi’s 2, which is not something to be proud off considering none of them were close to being goals.
It will be hard for Mourinho to change this tie, but like he has already proved with Porto and Inter, he will something up his sleeves.
