Barcelona truly loathe their arch-rivals Real Madrid.
The two clubs are not just rivals in the traditional sense, where two great sides have clashed so often over the top prizes that they become rivals by default. This isn’t simply an older version of the Manchester United vs. Arsenal rivalry that straddled the turn of the century, or the Chelsea-Liverpool feud that was borne out of several high profile matches in the ensuing decade.
No, Barcelona vs. Real Madrid is a serious rivalry. It has a huge political element thanks to the Spanish governments oppression of Catalan national identity in the year’s following the Spanish Civil War (contrary to popular belief, Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco was not a fan of Real Madrid, and in fact Madrid as a city heavily resisted Franco’s forces during the war). The promotion of Spanish identity, which Madrid did epitomise in that era, etched this rivalry into the stone tablets of history. These two sides could never be allies after this.
But in modern terms, the rivalry has more interestingly become ideological on the pitch, too. Since Johan Cruyff came back to Barcelona as a manager in the late 80’s (having been a player in the 70’s). Cruyff brought with him the Ajax model, albeit with a touch of his own personal flair. The first principles of passing and possession laid down by Cruyff have (mostly) been in place ever since.
Obviously there have been moments when the philosophy wasn’t always held dear, but then reformers have come to restablish the gospel. Louis Van Gaal, Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova: passing, possession, positional play, prioritising domestic dominance, consistency of performance, and the collective over the individual. By contrast Real Madrid will play any way they need to in order to win, have an abundance of superstar players and rely enormously on individualism as they disregard smaller matches against “weaker” opponents to chase the elusive glory of the Champions League.
Luis Enrique’s appointment as head coach of Barcelona was divisive and his reign even moreso. He began to diverge from the first principles. Sure, the side was incredibly consistent, steamrollering everyone except Javi Gracia’s Malaga for some reason; this led to domestic dominance in abundance (two domestic doubles and three straight Copas del Rey in three seasons) and obviously lots of passing.
But the passing wasn’t always short now, there was lots of direct play. Moreover, the positional play and midfield focus was broken down in order to emphasise the individual genius of three forwards. But hey, they were pretty special forwards and the club was probably one penalty no-call against Atlético Madrid away from doing back-to-back Trebles so, no big deal?
Besides, when Ernesto Valverde replaced Lucho, things seemed to shift back towards the first principles again. Valverde insisted on a greater sense of positional play with more match control. A little too much match control. From the helter skelter of Luis Enrique, Valverde had become a bit too cautious. He won La Liga and the Copa del Rey, but his caution and fear of risk cost him a Treble.
So we come to this current season, where things are looking less clear than ever. On the one hand, Barcelona play in a Barcelona way. There’s passing, positional play, match control, all the good stuff. The treatment of Ousmane Dembélé shows that the collective is prioritised over the individual, no matter how talented they may be.
But the consistency? The way Barcelona approached every match the same and prioritised domestic dominance? Errrr…
Let’s set it straight: in the Champions League, Barça have been superb. They’ve won three of four games and will likely win their group, the so-called Group of Death, with consummate ease. They’ve played brilliantly in every single match, looking up for it and focused every time they’ve taken the field. They’ve hit every mark you want a Barcelona side to hit; it’s been beautiful.
In La Liga, however? Barcelona’s usual stomping ground? They’ve been erratic at best. Sure, they slapped Real Madrid 5-1, drove past Real Sociedad 1-2 and beat Sevilla 4-2 (a result that would have been more emphatic had Leo Messi not got injured) but they also went four games without a win, including home draws with Girona and Athletic Club and an away defeat to Leganés, who were bottom at the time.
Then just two weeks ago they needed a literal last minute comeback to avoid losing to 19th place Rayo. Rayo! Then they faced Real Betis at the Camp Nou, a match they should have won with a fair degree of ease, and instead got the taste smacked out of their mouths by a team playing cohesive collective football with classy confidence.
These matches were characterised by their sloppiness. Barcelona didn’t play anything like their usual game in them. There was no cohesion, no coherence. The positional play was non-existent as opponents waltzed through acres of space on the break. The possession was often impotent, reliant on the individual genius of Leo Messi, Jordi Alba or Ousmane Dembélé to create anything.
A side that saves their best for the Champions League; that dominates in the big matches, turning up against the big boys but throws their chance of domestic dominance away by not taking smaller clubs seriously? That arrogantly thinks that by simple virtue of having superior individual talent they will be able to steamroller small sides – and so often get caught out by said sides showing up ready for a fight?
That sounds quite a bit like Real Madrid, doesn’t it?
In his efforts to put the focus on Europe, to perhaps play a more expansive style of play to counter the criticisms he received in his first season, Ernesto Valverde seems to have lost control of this Barcelona side. Sure, they’re top of La Liga for now, but they’re top by just one point. Real Madrid, who by the way have had their worst ever start to a season, as just four points behind them.
Spain’s title race should be thrilling for the neutrals, but the Real Madrid-ification of Barcelona is bad news for the Blaugrana. This is not a side who can simply go an entire season to only show up in big games.
Sure, Real Madrid just did that two out of the last three years and won the Champions League both times (2016 and 2018) but that’s what they do. Seasons like 2017 are an anomaly for Madrid (just 3 of their 13 European Cup wins came as part of European Doubles) whilst they are the norm for Barcelona (all 5 of their Champions League wins were part of European Doubles, two were Trebles!)
Barcelona are not a side who know how to coast through the regular season and raise their games just for the big occasion in Europe. They’re getting away with it for now, sure, but if they don’t renew their focus on domestic competition and begin to play with some consistency again then this Real Madrid-ification is going to cost them big-time in both competitions come Spring. They’ll be sloppy, soft-centered and find themselves out of luck on every front.
The post The Real Madrid-ification of Barcelona appeared first on Squawka News.
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