Hello friends, good vibes to all.
It has been a long time since I talked about something related to soccer and we were in a kind of lethargy which has finally come to an end with the beginning of the year. The first title of Spain and of the season was played yesterday in Arab lands, the Super Cup. A tournament that has undergone changes and is that before it was disputed between the champion of the League against the champion of the Copa del Rey; now it is a thing of 4: the finalists of the Cup and the top two places in the League. But that's not all: instead of being played in Spain, as it should be, it is played in Saudi Arabia. Why? - Because of the money, my friends, the blessed money.
But well, as has been happening lately, the final was the great classic, one that in its last presentation we saw how Barcelona “humiliated” a Real Madrid at home 0-4. I have always thought that these games are catalysts because they can sink one team and make another take off, I say this because at that time, back in October, Barca was coming in a somewhat overwhelming pace to the point that many were already talking about serious candidates to win the league while Madrid was in a kind of “low profile” with the same problems they have today, 3-4 months later. How much has changed then the situation of both clubs? - Well, neither is leading La Liga and while one is doing better in the Champions League, the other is doing better locally. In other words: inconsistency.
The main dressing of this classic yesterday I think it was that thorn of the previous one, Madrid had to clean up the image shown at the Bernabeu. Nothing could be further from the truth. What I can notice at a glance on the merengue side is that there is a very big wear in the idea of the game and in the players themselves, it seems that no matter how much they want to, the team is not able to go. To this we must add the level of certain players that has not been the best we can say: Lucas Vázquez and Tchouaméni are the most pointed out, in yesterday's game they were a complete disaster, marking errors and inaccuracies to the point that they were among the first changes of Ancelotti. And this is the second thing, the incomprehensible of the changes. If your team is losing 5-2 how do you take out Vinicius, the most differential of all, how do you not put in Arda Guler? - There are things that, no matter how much you anailize them, you can't understand.
It is also true that the Brazilian along with Bellingham were not in the match, completely lost of their roles. Perhaps the only one who was seen “something” was Mbappe with a great goal. Now, all this has a reason to be and it was Barca's way of playing. A team that is sinning from a certain instability but when it decides to play, it crushes. Yesterday, the team led by Flick displayed an overwhelming high pressing game from the first half to the point that they ended the first 45 minutes winning 4-1 with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha being the undisputed stars. Barca's way of playing is very top notch because they advance their lines by placing their central defenders almost in the middle of the field in order to stifle the opponent's exit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the reality is that yesterday the script worked as expected.
I think the expulsion of Szczęsny slowed down the pace that the Culés were bringing, at this point they were already leading 5-1 and it is very likely that this advantage would increase but with one less, the German coach had to rearrange the board by taking off Gavi and Lamine. This obviously led to Madrid having more of the ball to the point that the second goal came. But in general terms all that possession was somewhat sterile because as I already mentioned the key players did not appear. Finally Barcelona wins the first title of the season, one very well deserved for what they showed on the pitch. With this Hansi Flick takes his first disputed final and what is presumed to be the beginning of a winning era or at least with more joys than the previous ones.
The next Clasico will be in May but I think that as already mentioned, this game could be a catalyst in the short term. Next week the Champions League returns and in it Madrid is not very comfortable, they are one point away from being out, while Barcelona is in second place, three points behind the leader. In La Liga, Atlético del Cholo's Atlético is in the lead, Madrid is one point behind, while the Culés are in third place, 6 points behind. Again, the inconsistency I was talking about. I close by saying that it was a good game, one that went from more to less due to the circumstances and whose score was a reflection of what was experienced and seen on the field.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos leemos en la próxima!
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡Hugs to all, see you next time!