Away side struggling after taking new approach, says pundit
Sunday 26 October 2014 08:59, UK
Guillem Balague believes Barcelona were lucky to only lose by two goals in Saturday’s Clasico clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid ran out comfortable 3-1 winners after Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty, Pepe’s header and Karim Benzema’s accurate strike cancelled out Neymar’s third-minute opener.
And the Sky Sports Spanish football expert feels the Catalonians can count themselves lucky they weren’t on the end of a humiliating defeat, despite having the better of the opening exchanges in Madrid.
Asked whether Barcelona coach Luis Enrique would come under criticism for the manner of his side’s defeat in Madrid, Balague responded: “In a way Enrique has been lucky because it could have been 5-1 or 6-1 in the second half when Barcelona gave up and there was so much space in the midfield.
“But it’s interesting how this game could have been so completely different actually, had they gone in 2-0 up with that Lionel Messi chance. At 2-0 up no one would have said that they didn’t deserve it because the game was that equal.
“It would have been a completely different game. What you had after that was what Pique said after the match, ‘Real Madrid deserved to win the game’.”
Balague went on to suggest that Enrique’s team selection may not have suited the occasion and questioned the role of a number of Barcelona midfielders and their inability to deal with Real’s dynamic counter attacks.
“Barcelona are trying to find new ways to attack and not always by possession,” he added.
“Two thirds of the goals they have scored this season were from five passes or less leading to the goal. The problem is that you need to press high and Luis Enrique told Messi at the start of the season that the team would play for him.
“This meant that players were going to be closer to the box and that Messi would have the whole team in the last third and now that’s the basis of the new Barcelona.
“But what you’re asking in this game is for Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets to go and steal ball as well as Suarez, Neymar and Messi - and these are the ones who are supposed to pressure high.
“I don’t think they did it at all in the first half and what happened was it became a very open game which suited Real Madrid.”
