El Clasico to win a trophy.
Nuff said, let’s see how the match played out.
First half
The first half was a downright demolition derby for Barca.
At first there were long instances of possession that saw Barca hold onto the ball, carefully survey the space, and take advantage of the opportunities that were presented.
However, Barca weren’t the ones who drew first blood, as it was Kylian Mbappe who finally got his moment in El Clasico and lifted Real Madrid to a 1-0 lead inside 10 minutes.
Barca didn’t panic though, instead they stayed focused and continued to grind away at Madrid’s lead until they finally found a breakthrough of their owno courtesy of Lamine Yamal.
Yamal’s goal was courtesy of some quick link up play between Yamal and Robert Lewandowski, as Lewa’s pass broke through Madrid’s defense and gave Yamal a quick 1v1 chance against Rudiger.
Yamal then took on Rudiger, cut inside, and softly placed a shot past Courtois to level the game at 1.
This wasn’t the end either.
Barca took the lead later due to a penalty from Camavinga and a goal from Lewandowski. Everyone on the stadium knew Barca had taken control of the match, and if Madrid weren’t careful, the dam was going to burst at any second.
Eventually the dam did break, with more goals coming before halftime arrived.
The third goal for Barca was from a gorgeous pass from Jules Kounde and a thunderous header from Raphinha. It was 3-1 and Barca weren’t done yet. Barca scored a fourth and it was courtesy of an unlikely source.
Alejandro Balde.
Balde showed off some clinical finishing with a nicely placed left footed finish. giving Barc a 4-1 lead going into halftime and a sense of domination and superiority over Madrid.
Barca needed to keep this going into the second half, or they’d risk Madrid waking up and making something of the game. So onto halftime we went, with Barca holding on to a 4-1 lead and only one more half away from winning Hansi Flick’s first trophy as a Barca manager.
Second half
Barca got the memo quite clearly, as they scored their fifth goal early in the second half.
It was from another counter, as Raphinha took on Madrid’s defense by himself and eventually fired a strike past Courtois.
5-1.
This set the tone for the rest of the match, even when Wojciech Szczesny got a red card after a failed challenge on Mbappe. Barca were down to 10 men, but they controlled the rest of the match brilliantly, despite giving up a goal immediately after going down to 10 men.
Barca held on to win the trophy by a score of 5-2, injecting some positivity back into this season after a brief rough stretch.
Final word
This match had everything and more.
Excitement, drama, goals, and some high stakes refereeing decisions that impacted the game significantly. All in all, good on Barca for showing up and finally being efficient in front of goal, a trend they’ve failed to effectively put to paper over the last month and some change.
Now it’s all about staying consistent and maintaining the level as the season chugs along.
We’re only in January, there’s plenty of trophies to win. Barca are still in the race for La Liga and they’re in a good spot to automatically qualify for the Champions League round of 16.
Barca has to maintain this level, and if they do, they’re bound to win a lot more silverware this season.
Barca’s next match
Barca’s next match will be this Wednesday against Real Betis. It’ll be a round of 16 match in the Copa Del Rey.
See you all then!
I’ve been a big time Barca fan since I was 14 years old. I love the club, the history, and the tradition that the club has built over its prestigious history. Forca Barca!
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