Life is best lived on the edge. Barcelona navigated the clásico with finesse, executing a flawless plan without hesitation, and emerged at the summit of the table, capping off a remarkable week. Just three days after their four-goal thriller against Bayern Munich, Hansi Flick's team returned to Santiago Bernabéu and scored four more. Robert Lewandowski, now a transformed player, netted twice; Lamine Yamal etched his name in history as the youngest scorer in this fixture; and Raphinha sealed the deal with a late goal.
The risk Barcelona supposedly faced was the one that ultimately undid Madrid, not them. Carlo Ancelotti's team was dismantled, exposed at the Bernabéu by a side featuring six players under 21. "There are games in Germany they call the clásico but it’s not the same," Flick had noted, and he was correct. Yet, even the genuine clásico isn’t always like this; his first was impeccable. Kylian Mbappé, on the other hand, had a less fortunate outing: three shots, and those were just the ones that counted, as he repeatedly found himself ensnared in a meticulously laid trap.
Much of the focus was on Flick’s offside trap, which became a pivotal aspect of this clásico, another match played on the brink. Barcelona employs the highest defensive line in Europe, having caught opponents offside 65 times, double the number of any other team on the continent and more than anyone else in nine years. This reflects their coordination and bravery, but it also carries risks, especially against forwards as swift as Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, clocked at 35km/h last week. This was evident from the start, with Mbappé sprinting away after just 85 seconds. His position was ideal, the spot from which he has bested many a goalkeeper: cutting in from the left, he opened his body, dropped his shoulder, and pulled the shot to the near post. This time, however, the ball grazed the outside of the net.
Replays suggested he was offside anyway, adding to the growing stats; in fact, it was easy to lose count. When Mbappé lofted a shot over Iñaki Peña from a distance, when the Barcelona goalkeeper miraculously clawed a shot off the line, when Vinícius fired over from close range, and when the Brazilian hit the side-netting, a common thread emerged. Each time Madrid had been released into space behind Barcelona’s defence, and each time the flag went up, usually after the move was completed. Barcelona were judging this just right; they were also walking a tightrope.
Madrid had been caught offside six times within half an hour of a wildly entertaining, open game with almost no midfield, the ball bypassing it, so much happening. It wasn’t entirely one-sided, either. An audacious backheeled pass from Lewandowski sent Lamine Yamal clear, only for him to scuff the shot – he might have been offside too – Raphinha fired over, Iñigo Martínez’s header narrowly missed the bar, and Andriy Lunin saved from Pedri. Then, on 30 minutes, Mbappé scored, sprinting through again to lift the ball into the net. Only, guess what, he was offside. It was the fifth time he had been caught.
The plan was working, all that apparent precariousness perhaps precision. Barcelona’s chances had not seemed as threatening as Madrid’s, the abyss always open at the feet of Flick’s side. And yet, when the trap works so often, it cannot be mere chance, the frequency dropped in the second half, and it was they who found a way through – right through the middle into the wide space beyond. Madrid’s line was breached by Ferland Mendy – it’s not so easy, see? – and Lewandowski was ready, timing his run perfectly. From 18 yards, he curled a superb low finish beyond Lunin.
Two minutes and 20 seconds later, Barcelona had scored again, Alejandro Balde’s cross expertly headed in by the Pole, alone between the centre-backs. And he should have had a hat-trick too when they again cut through Madrid. Twice, in fact: the first, set up by Raphinha, was an astonishing miss, the shot hitting the post faced by an open goal; the second, set up by Lamine, was fired over. Between those chances, as if revived by the prospect of another miraculous escape opening the door to another implausible comeback, Madrid stirred. This time, though, it wasn’t to be. Mbappé escaped through the middle, onside this time, but was denied by Peña. Soon after, he dashed clear again but, knowing that he was offside, lacked conviction. Madrid were wide open, falling to pieces.
No sign of a plan, they wanted a mad, open game but Barcelona were not prepared to give it to them; what they were prepared to do was take advantage of Madrid’s search for it. And so it was that Barcelona found a way through again, a long ball intercepted by Raphinha who dashed into space and laid into the pass of Lamine Yamal to smash a finish, the finish, into the roof of the net. And then Raphinha reached another long ball, this time from Martínez to lift over Peña and into the net. Madrid were finished, left in pieces. There was just time for Mbappé to run free once more. The shot was saved and the flag was up, of course.
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