In what can be considered an nerve-racking yet mundane game (weird combination, I know), FC Barcelona and Real Madrid drew 1-1 at the Camp Nou in the first clásico of the 2016-2017 season. Here are my thoughts.
Whew. My heart is glad that’s over. Clásicos, for all its immaculate glory, always make you want to cover your eyes in fear. What if my team loses the ball in a poor position? What if we miss sitting ducks in front of goal? And what if we just make that one vital mistake, that wretches the game from our grasp? All of these questions race through your mind, and it was no different today. But can we take a breather, just for one second?
We can? Thank you, it means a lot.
OK. I’m good now. Let’s talk. But where to start?
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How about the last few minutes. That was depressing. Downright depressing. Like, it seems scripted. As if what was going to happen was determined before kick-off. Sergio Ramos scoring a last-ditch header to scrap something for Madrid? Madrid creating something when the game looks over? Seen those stories before. Countless times. And it never gets easier to stomach.
At this point, we should all expect them to happen. But maybe it’s time to stop attributing it to luck, but rather resilience, determination, and simply, skill. 33 consecutive games without losing? I’m sorry, but NOBODY is that lucky. Not Zidane. Not Ramos nor Ronaldo. Madrid just has what it takes to get a result.
But I want to make something clear: neither side deserved to win this game. For those making the argument that Barcelona just pulled something from their behinds, you can easily say that Madrid deserved their goal.
Barcelona had the chance to kill this game. And I mean cold-blooded murder. But they couldn’t, so fair play to Real Madrid for capitalizing.
This game could have easily been 3-0. It should have. The last-minute heroics by Ramos should never have taken place today. And Barça can only blame themselves for that.
Neymar missed a golden chance in the 68th minute. He twirled Dani Carvajal in the penalty box and had the ball on his right foot with no one in front of him but the goalkeeper. But he sailed it over the bar.
Messi was the recipient of a ridiculous pass from Iniesta in the 82nd minute, one that was truly a pass very few players in the world could make. But Messi fluffed it, shooting to far right.
Madrid should have tied the game a few minutes earlier. Cristiano Ronaldo was alone at the far post but somehow missed a wide open net with his header. Instead of the ball finding the back of the net, it was directed into the feet of Jordi Alba before going out for a corner. 99 times out of 100, Neymar, Ronaldo, and Messi convert those chances. And let’s say Ramos still scores is goal in the 90th minute. The score would be 3-2 in favor of Barcelona. And that would have been the final result.
So for those saying Madrid were lucky and Barça deserved to win, stop fooling yourselves. Neither teams did enough to have a legitimate claim for 3 points. They both took advantage of the other’s ineptitude.
With that out-of-the-way, it’s time to address some of the Barça players. One more so than the others.
INIESTA IS BACK. OUR CAPTAIN IS BACK.
When Iniesta came onto the pitch as a sub, it was like I became a little kid. The smile was entrenched on my face for what seemed like for ever. It seems ages ago he suffered that knee injury against Valencia. Having him back is great news for Barça; they’ve sorely missed his presence in midfield. With Iniesta’s return, there won’t be as much of a creative burden on Messi and Neymar. They can stay a little bit further up the pitch and wreak havoc in the final third.
The performance of Sergio Busquets also needs to be addressed. Busquets has been subjected to well deserved criticism this season. His outings have been sub-par, bordering on poor. But he’s been turning it around lately, starting with the game at Manchester City. His awareness has been much better, and is no longer losing the ball constantly. Having Iniesta back as a partner will surely help to raise his confidence and thus his performances.
Those two players were positives for Barcelona. But there were two that were negatives: Neymar and Luis Suárez.
Both have been in shocking form lately. Neymar has not scored in his last 8 games. Suárez have taken a nose dive this season, seemingly unable to string together touches and finish a chance. What happened to the man who scored 40 goals in the league last season? And Neymar. Jeez. He did virtually nothing this match to influence it. I still have confidence that these two will turn it around, but they have to start showing more.
With Iniesta’s return and Busquets playing better each game, Barcelona have a reason to be hopeful for the near future. They can still catch Real Madrid, even if their lead at the top of the table is 6 points. There were stretches tonight that showed Barça can dominate like in the past. But they’re going to have to dig deep and really focus to do it more consistently.