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Even Pep can learn: Zidane's tactical exercise brought Real a Clasico victory
Lucas and Essex in a double role as a brake and wing player, and Federico Valverda as a defender and midfielder at the same time, are responsible for showing the freshman's plan in the first half.
Barça are back, Mingsa and Ilaish have impressed, but the result is justified, and it maintains a particularly hot top.
Prepare a surgeon
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Real Madrid
Barcelona in football
Zindin Zidane
Federico Valverda
Ilaish Moriva
Michael Yochin
Sunday, April 11, 2021, 9:30 p.m.
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Sophisticated and simple at the same time.
Zidane with Vasquez (Photo: GettyImages, Quality Sport Images)
Lucas and Essex as brakes.
It sounds like such a delusional idea that even Pep Guardiola - the wizard of bizarre / genius inventions (delete the unnecessary) - would not have thought of it.
Zinedine Zidane conceived it, applied it to the Clásico, thus taking the three precious points on the way to the top of the table.
The Frenchman has never been perceived as a particularly brilliant coach in terms of tactics, but this image is misleading.
Over the years, he has on many occasions adapted the lineup to the opponent, and this time made a school for Ronald Koeman in the first half, which could have ended Real with a 0: 3 or 0: 4 advantage over Barcelona.
The thought was sophisticated and simple at the same time.
In the absence of Sergio Ramos and Rafael Varane, it was hard to trust Nacho and Adar Militeau as a pair of brakes in front of Leo Messi and his teammates.
The Brazilian tends to err in position, the Spaniard needs a stable partner next to him, and many holes may form between them.
What to do?
Add a third brake when the ball is not in the white legs, and that was Vasquez's role, while Federico Valverda went down to the classic right-back slot.
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Does not pose a minimal threat in the air.
Osman Dembele (Photo: GettyImages, Diego Souto)
Essex - the man for special missions
This solution was made possible because Barcelona did not have a striker with a proper head game.
Zidane would not have done so if someone at the level of Luis Suarez had been on the pitch, because the penalty would have come immediately.
Isolating the Uruguayan in front of the low-rise Essex, Messi raises a good ball, a jab - and Thibaut Courtois can get the ball out of the net.
But there was no Suarez, and Osman Dembele posed no minimal threat in the air.
He has one goal in mind in his career, more than four years ago winning Dortmund against Wolfsburg.
Messi actually provided one fantastic raise before the break, but Dembele did not even get close to the ball - a combination of a bad position with a bad jump.
This grotesque moment highlighted the problem well.
Essex's mission was to create density, to reach deep devotion and to throw all the balls rolling at him.
In this respect he is second to none - he is one of the most committed and energetic players in the world.
He has phenomenal physical fitness, highly developed tactical senses and iron discipline.
He also meticulously follows the instructions, but also knows to improvise when needed.
Thus he became an effective winger in rotation for the banker as a right-back in the absence of Danny Carvajal.
Pay attention to the numbers - his record for appearances in the league so far was 16 in the 2017/18 season.
This season he already stands at 21, and another eight in the Champions League (also a personal record, of course).
In the only game left on the bench, in the opening round, Real were humiliated and lost 3: 2 in Madrid to Shakhtar Donetsk.
In fact, Vasquez was first seasoned as a defender in the first Clasico in November, when Nacho was injured towards the end of the first half.
He came in when the result was 1: 1 - and Real won 1: 3.
This time he was assigned a dual role.
Without a ball, he was a third brake in a 2-3-5 formation.
With the ball, he was a particularly offensive defender, with Valverda moving to the link, making the method a 2-4-4 classic.
And that duo decided the deal.
Their ability to swallow distances and find vacant spaces is breathtaking, and Barcelona had no answer.
More on Walla!
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More on Walla!
Messi shivered, Pique shouted "It's amazing", Barcelona was furious: "Maybe there is no VAR in Spain"
Real Madrid happy, Courtois thanked for luck, Modric teased Pique: "Going to complain, eh?"
Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 1: 2 in the Clasico and returned to the top of the table
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Will get along with everyone.
Karim Benzema conquers (Photo: GettyImages, Angel Martinez)
Benzema with another game for the Pantheon
Thus was born the first gate.
Valverda, who received the ball as a defender from the right, opened burners, galloped along the entire court and sent a phenomenal delivery towards Vasquez who managed to get from the brake position to his beloved standout as a right winger.
His wide ball was perfect, Karim Benzema's extension is even better - and here's a perfect team performance, one of the best seen this season in Spain.
Benzema, with nine goals in the last seven league games, reached 19 league goals and equaled for Suarez without scoring a single penalty.
"Bring Arling Holland," he said recently, not laughing.
He will get along with everyone, and keep his place in any situation.
He is the best striker in Spain, undisputed.
This is how the third goal was almost born, after Tony Cross doubled the result with a free kick that hit too many Barça players on its way to the net.
Vinicius provided an excellent ball to Valverda who found himself free and happy in the box and stuck a ball to stand.
The rebound came at the feet of Essex, who once again managed to make it all the way from the brake position straight to the attack, but his kick was stopped by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
The German thus saved Blaugrana from defeat and left a chance for a comeback in the second half.
Not afraid to take the game on himself.
Federico Valverda (Photo: GettyImages, Diego Souto)
Valverda - a star in the big games
This chance would have improved significantly because it was one of Vasquez's last actions in the confrontation.
He was injured, was replaced by Albero Odriosola, and Zidane's game plan went awry.
The Basque has long since lost the qualities that caused Real to pay € 40 million for him in the summer of 2018. He has no faith and confidence, and in this respect is the complete opposite of Wasquez.
The change even caused Valverda to perform an even greater workload, and the knot was exhausted by the heavy rain that began to fall after the break - and was replaced by itself.
Valverda has proven himself in battles against Barcelona as the ultimate player for the big games.
He was the man of the match at 0-0 in December 2019. He scored the first goal in the critical victory in November this season.
Even yesterday he was one of the most prominent.
He's not afraid to take the game on himself, but that does not stop him from being a perfect team player.
Injuries have disrupted his current season, and it's not easy to pave the way with the exemplary Casimiro-Modric-Cross trio in midfield, but he's making a big comeback in recent weeks, and yesterday he could be seen making a huge contribution even without replacing any of the senior midfielders.
The game was balanced in the second half also thanks to Koman's tactical change.
The Dutchman also started with three brakes, but it worked much less for Barça, as they lost the battle in midfield, while Dembele's performance as a striker was not a tenth of his potential.
Therefore, the choice to put Antoine Griezmann in place of Serginio Dest made sense.
Oscar Mingsa was moved to the attacking right-back position, in the Lucas and Essex style, the lineup changed to the traditional 3-3-4 - and the young academy graduate provided excellent minutes.
Was worthy of conquering the shrinking gate.
Mingsa (Photo: GettyImages, Angel Martinez)
Ilaish - the emerging Barcelona leader
At 21, Mingsa is still inexperienced and unstable in the home front, but it is impossible to come to him with complaints when it comes to motivation and commitment.
He deserved to score the shrinking goal - only the second in his career, his contribution to the offensive game was great, and in her new version the guest risked the goal much more.
Thus developed, despite the harsh weather conditions, a fascinating game with many opportunities near both goals, which could have gone both ways.
Real squandered glorious chances to secure the result, but Barça were further upgraded thanks to the entry - too late - of another academy graduate in the form of Ilaish Moriva.
The 18-year-old, who you can read more about here, is not compared to Yaya Tora for free.
Like Valverda, he's not really afraid to take on the game when he has to.
In the 20 minutes on the grass he managed to reach the valley with a shot from Messi's elevation (something that did not exist until his entry), confront Casimiro, calm his teammates when they demanded a questionable penalty and ask them to concentrate on the game itself, send a dangerous kick from distance, and finally test a ball into the crossbar. In the last few seconds.
He deserved to score the equalizer, and he clearly marks them as the future leader of Barça.
It is amusing to think that according to media reports, the club considered sending him to the reserve team game against Ibiza in the third division today, and rest assured - he will have the strength for that as well.
The championship was already supposed to be in their pocket.
Real Madrid players (Photo: GettyImages, Angel Martinez)
Holding fingers to betis
In the bottom line, however, the result was fair, mainly thanks to the first half of Valverda and Essex.
It allowed Real to maintain a phenomenal balance against top teams this season - two wins over Barcelona, a draw against Atletico, a win over Sevilla, not to mention two wins over Inter, two wins over Atlanta, and a 1-3 win over Liverpool last Tuesday.
Had it not been for the home losses to Cadiz, Alabs and Levante, the championship would have already been in his pocket.
On the other hand, Barcelona with zero points in meetings against rivals from Madrid this season, and they were relegated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite this, everything is still open for her in the battle for the crown, and the two rivals for the Clásico are waiting tonight for Atletico to stumble on a challenging visit to Betis.
If that happens, the top will be marvelous on every scale, with eight rounds left to go.
In Anelia and Italy the identity of the champions is already known, and in Germany too something extraordinary has to happen for Bayern Munich to lose the summit in favor of Leipzig.
In Spain, the tension is expected to be maintained until the last few seconds, as in the Clasico yesterday, and we should be happy about that.
In this respect, the white victory that kept Real very strong in the picture, should make the neutral fans happy.
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