The shirts worn by Real Madrid and Barca in this national derby made the atmosphere of the game look a little different from the past, and the progress of the game was unexpected by many people. Even after defeating Real Madrid 4-0, Barca, who have one less game, still have a 12-point gap from Real Madrid, but the significance of this game is extraordinary, Xavi announced Barca's recovery with a complete victory at the Bernabeu, and for Real Madrid, this defeat calmed down the media and fans who were excited by the elimination of Paris Saint-Germain, and Ancelotti's Real Madrid was far from perfect.
Many people aimed their criticism at Ancelotti after the game, as some of the arrangements made by the Italian coach in this game were confusing. Due to Benzema's absence, Real Madrid lost the attacking core of the team, but Ancelotti did not send a traditional center like Jovic or Mariano to replace Benzema, but sent a frontless team composed of Rodrigo, Vinicius, Modric, Kroos, Valverde and Casemiro to try to find opportunities through the attack of the two flanks, but it did not work because of the lack of pick-up points in the middle; when Real Madrid was passive in the game, Ancelotti changed into a three-back. Countermeasures such as moving Nacho to the right and allowing Casemiro to sink into the defence to play centre-back did not improve the situation.
After experiencing the reinforcement of the winter window, Barca's combat effectiveness has already changed a lot from the first half, Two new signings, Ferran Torres and Aubameyang, appeared on the offensive line, the only surprise came from the back line, Xavi arranged for Araujo to appear at right-back, perhaps Xavi's intention is to make the backfield defense more fierce Araujo block Real Madrid's left attack. Vinicius still had a certain advantage against Araujo in the game, but for Barca, it was just a flaw in the deployment of troops in this game. The front line of Ferran Torres, Aubameyang and Dembele has speed, strength and skill, causing great trouble for the Real Madrid backline, and they are like the claws of the beast, "torturing" the Real Madrid defense in various ways. Real Madrid's two starting full-backs, Carvajal and Nacho, were unable to restrain the attacks of Ferran Torres and Dembele, and Barca tried to attack from the flanks at the beginning of the game, focusing on Casemiro, Carvajal and others.
Barca's first goal came from Dembele's wing break in the 28th minute, he used his speed to eat Nacho and then crossed from the bottom, Alaba made a strange high-leg interception in front of the cross, and Aubameyang rushed to head ahead of Militão. Nine minutes later, Barca again took advantage of real madrid's high-altitude defensive flaws to score, and Araujo took advantage of a corner kick opportunity to pluck the ball dry among Real Madrid's players and score a header. The advantages and disadvantages of Alaba Militão's centre-back combination are very obvious, but at least this time facing Barca's attacking line of fast, good physical fitness and diverse offensive means, it is also an indisputable fact that the center-back partner has nothing to do.
Seeing that the situation was out of control, Ancelotti sent the right center Mariano in the second half and had Camaringa replace Kroos to strengthen the midfield press. However, at the beginning of the second half, Barca once again let the Real Madrid midfield fall into a "chaotic" situation, Frankie De Jong instigated a counterattack after the midfielder broke the ball, Aubameyang heel assisted the unguarded Ferran Torres to shoot through the net, the entire goal process of Real Madrid has a total of Alaba, Militang and Modric three players in a hurry to make a downward shoveling action, but they still can not prevent Barca from completing a smooth attack. By the time Ferran Torres assisted Aubameyang's goal in the 50th minute, the 4-0 scoreline had basically declared the game over prematurely. Nevertheless, the scene that took place in the 72nd minute made real Madrid fans feel frightened, Barca's direct ball entered the Militang defense zone, dembele took the lead in the close confrontation with Militang, the best physical condition in real Madrid's backline, and poked a slightly offside - if real Madrid's defense always allowed Barca to face Courtois with such a breeze, then the big score loss was obviously a natural thing.
The result of this game will make many people see a reality, that is, the 12-point gap does not reflect the current strength comparison between Real Madrid and Barca, the first half of the season Barça is indeed a team with lack of offensive characteristics and defensive order, but that is already "past tense", Barça's transformation of the midfield has achieved remarkable results, they have a fiery new generation of midfield brain Pedri, and the sharp trident of offensive moves, able to handle passes from the midfield with flexible running position and skillful technology.
For Real Madrid, they played a very bad game and there are a lot of questions left for Ancelotti to ponder. Benzema is the axis of Real Madrid's frontcourt, when Benzema is absent, not only Does Vinicius have no direction to pass after the breakthrough, but Ancelotti does not even have a reasonable plan B and C, even if Bale does not make the list due to muscle injuries before the game, don't forget that Ancelotti actually has Isco, Asensio, Jovic, Hazard and other options.
In addition, the performance of the Real Madrid backline is also particularly worrying, in this game, except for the high-end resistance of Courtois, the other players in the Real Madrid backline have invariably received low scores. Ancelotti replaced Carvajal at half-time, first with Nacho against Ferran Torres and finally Vázquez coming off the bench, but Alba and Ferran Torres remain barca's most threatening side on the left. Nacho's inability to defend Dembele alone was not unexpected, but Alaba and Militão also showed no level of expectation at all, with 32-year-old Aubameyang taking the upper hand in front of the duo. The message from the recent news is that Real Madrid's number one target is Mbappe right now, and at the moment Real Madrid seem to think that the centre-back and right-back positions do not need reinforcements. Facing a high level of attackers, Carvajal and Nacho in the decline period, as well as the weakness of the Alaba-Militang combination can not really be assured, once the other side can find a breakthrough in the Real Madrid defense on the flank, plus the middle of the road is good at grabbing points of the shooter, then the Real Madrid defense really has no countermeasures.
(Santiago-Wang)