Ronald Koeman’s panic decision cost Barcelona the game

Ronald Koeman’s tactical decisions went haywire and cost Barcelona three points

Barcelona was handed their second El Clasico defeat of 2020 after Zinedine Zidane‘s Real Madrid managed to win at the Camp Nou by a scoreline of 1-3. The last time Los Blancos won at the Camp Nou was in the 2015/16 season when Cristiano Ronaldo scored the late winner to finish the game 1-2.

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Going into the game, Barca could be considered as favourites given the record at the Camp Nou in the El Clasico along with Real’s recent poor run of fixtures against Cadiz and Shakhtar Donetsk. However, it was the Whites that emerged victorious at the Camp Nou.

Many believed that Antoine Griezmann would star the game as the centre-forward in the 4-2-3-1 formation given the fact that the former Atletico Madrid man was rested in the Champions League fixture.

However, Koeman decided to play Lionel Messi as the false nine in the formation and decided to play Pedri on the right-wing.

Leo Messi is certainly dangerous when played as a false nine, however, apart from the dribble against Sergio Ramos inside the box, the 33-year-old barely contributed. It seems like Koeman’s decision to play Messi in the center backfired and Pedri on the right couldn’t do much either.

After Sergio Ramos converted from the spot in the 60th minute, Ronald Koeman should have made changes subsequently to create a more attacking side and equalize the game. However, the former Everton manager waited until the 80th minute to make his substitutions which then seemed too late to have a positive impact on the game.

The manager decided to take off Pedri for Trincao, Sergio Busquets for Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati for Antoine Griezmann, and Jordi Alba for Martin Braithwaite. His substitutions simply hint that it was a panic-stricken decision that had to be made.

In fact, the decision backfired as well. The substitutions added several players in the attack to overload the Real Madrid defense, however, Barca lacked numbers in the defense which was the very reason why Luka Modric had all the time in the world to pick his spot and use the outside boot to seal the win for Los Blancos.

The Catalans cannot succumb to this defeat as the club is set to take on Juventus in the Champions League group stage. It will certainly be a test for Ronald Koeman and his men against the Italian champions.