It was a matter of centimeters. Those that Real Madrid did not know how to measure and those that Barcelona measured perfectly. As if it were that Milan of Sacchi, Hansi Flick’s team bored the white forward and the public by adjusting in each rival attackall moving together, in a perfect synchronization that Mbappé never understood. And then, in the second half, they won the game. Because Mendy and Lucas did not coordinate with the centre-backs and what should have been offside was not near the Madrid area. Lewandowski did not fail and there was no more competition. The LaLiga leader now takes six points over the current champion and leaves the feeling that he is made for greater challengess. Real Madrid has to forget first and come back later. He must also find the Kylian Mbappé bWell, because it’s taking too long for him to appear.
There were bets on whether Hansi Flick was going to dare to keep his defense forward at the Bernabéu too or whether his team was going to take a step back, as a precaution. Flick thought doing so would be showing fear and played like he has been doing all this year. If he had to die, he must have thought, it would be better to die standing (there can be no more unfortunate phrase). He didn’t die, quite the opposite. He is alive, very alive, at his best, with his defense advanced, living in risk and on the limit. Living well, by the way.
Real Madrid was not bad in the first half, better than the rival with a clear idea, sometimes hasty and always poorly executed to look for the back of a suicidal, but effective defense. Carlo Ancelotti’s team looked again and again for balls behind their backs and again and again (up to eight in the first half) they were offside. It took them a while to blow the whistle, so the Madrid fans experienced with emotion dangerous plays that were not real and a good goal from Mbappé, which was fake. The French forward did not succeed with the coordinated movement with the passers and his game was a mirage: he finished, but no; marked, but neither. There was even a bad mood in the stands with the lineman taking so long to point out offsides. It was that thing about putting candy in your mouth and then taking it away..
The most dangerous play was really that of Vinicius, when Real Madrid took, in that play, a couple more passes to elaborate. Vini won the race to Koundé (there were few that beat him) and if the local team did not score it was because he did not raise his head and wanted to finish it himself. Barcelona was contained during the first half, more concerned with doing the job of advancing the defense well than attacking. Only an arrival from Yamal worried Lunin a little, but nothing more.
It was a very fast game, without pause, from side to side. Barcelona was in no hurry and Madrid was in no hurry. He lacked stopping and thinking, but he also didn’t have anyone to do it in the middle, one of the great workhorses of the team. It was seen in the corner kicks. Valverde took the first one, Lucas Vázquez took care of the rest, without luck.
It was an even first half, perhaps tilted a little for Real Madrid, but it seemed that everything depended on the rope breaking on one side.
Flick brought on De Jong in the second half to remove Fermín, but the key for Barcelona, in addition to the offside, was Casadó, the true discovery of this season. He managed the timing of the game, he never looked nervous and when he had to, he advanced decisively. The white midfield took a while to come out; Mendy, who had covered Yamal so well, was on his side doing his things and Lucas Vázquez moved an inch late. The fact is that the center backs advanced, the full backs did not. and Lewandowski did not miss the first one he had.
The goal against was too much for a Madrid desperate for offsides. They were an invisible barrier, a frustration that he couldn’t get rid of. His spirit fled and before he could pick it up and put it on, Lewandowski had scored the second with a magnificent header.
Barcelona went on the counterattack with an ease that was frightening.. Even the Polish striker must have been scared because he could have scored two easier goals and missed them. Madrid was already out of the game, on occasion, but with fear in their bodies of the turn of Dani Olmo, who was already on the field. Lamine Yamal showed his shirt to celebrate the third goal after a game without much weight and Raphinha celebrated his great season with the fourth at the Barça party at the Bernabéu.