Real Madrid lost against FC Barcelona with the result of 0-4. This is the first loss in the league for Las Blancas this season. Below are my thoughts and views on El Clásico.
Misa started on goal. For the first time this season, Alberto Toril didn’t change the defensive line from the previous match. Lakrar-Méndez made up the CB duo, with Oihane and Olga on fullbacks, like in the match against Twente. For the most part, the formation was 4-4-2 with Feller and Angeldahl operating wide while Weir and Redondo were up front leading the press.
In the first half, Barcelona missed a lot of chances that could’ve sentenced the game much earlier. With the low pass accuracy from Las Blancas, at a whopping 66% in the first 45 minutes, it was quite easy for the Catalan team to gain control of the ball and push the white team into their defending third. While Real Madrid struggled in high press on Barcelona, the Blaugranas didn’t have many issues at recovering the ball as soon as they started pressing.
Real Madrid had only one shot on target in the first part of the match. It came from a transition led by Naomie Feller who carried the ball through the right-hand side, passed it forward to Redondo who carried it into the box and took too long to decide before Barcelona’s defenders fell back and her shot ended up being saved from a wide angle.
- The very first set piece of the game, in 4’, gave Barcelona their first goal. Graham Hansen took the corner taking it to Alexia who assisted Patri on the far post.
- For the second goal, Patri Guijarro scored again in 22’ where she took advantage of a badly cleared ball by Lakrar and scored from a long distance.
- In 39’, the defensive hole allowed Aitana to open it up for Caroline Graham Hansen on the right. She went on a run, without any Madrid defenders getting to her in time before she passed it to Claudia Pina who was positioned in the center of the penalty area to make it 0-3.
The second half, despite the 0-3 on the scoreboard at halftime, was a different story for Las Blancas. From minute 56, the team looked much fresher after a triple substitution of Linda, Bruun and Toletti getting on for Tere, Redondo and Angeldahl. It was looking like a proper 4-2-3-1 with Weir behind Bruun and Caicedo and Feller on the wings. This way, both Feller and Caicedo could give proper support to the fullbacks in defense, and the triangles with Toletti and Leupolz in the midfield made much more sense.
Sadly, just as it was looking like the attack was getting a hang of the flow they created, Toril subbed off Feller in 70’ after she had just made a brilliant move against Mapi León and created a chance for Bruun a minute earlier. Speaking of Mapi, she had 2 shots on target in the game, one in both halves, and both having to be intervened by Misa.
Perhaps the most ironic aspect of this match was that Lakrar, who saved her team throughout the game on numerous occasions, was the main culprit in two of Barcelona’s goals. This is a tradition that lives on where the best-performing defender ends up being blamed for an obvious fluke, and it’s a recurring thing in Clásicos which Las Blancas can’t seem to shake.
- Just as it was looking promising in the second half, there was a late goal in 86’. Bad communication between Olga and Lakrar ultimately resulted in a lost ball by Lakrar against Aitana. She passed it forward to Kika Nazareth who saw Alexia open on her left. Alexia went 1-on-1 against Misa and chipped it over.
A game of two very different halves, but with no excuses for the result on the scoreboard. Another failed attempt at winning against Barcelona, another Clasico without scoring.
