Star wars final battle a.k.a "El clásico" [P+R]

[Jaboldinho]

Beautiful finish by Pedrito, 0-2.

 

[Jaboldinho]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all for now.

 

[Xifio]

not a classic display, but it was clinical, and eventually quite comfortable ... if Raffie had buried his 1-on-1, we may have had a tense finish to the second half ... but it wasn't to be ... 3 BIG points, and of course the BIG bragging rights!

 

[Dytza]

Best. Team. EVER!!!

 

[kp41]

Yessssssssssssssss, Real 0-2 Barca

250 Million Galacticos Project II 0-2 Barca Youth Academy

Real 0-4 Pep Guardiola =2-6

Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi = GODDDDS

Second Half was a good game. Xavi, Valdes, Puyol and Pique proved their worth as well. We all gave lots of credit to Messi lately, It's really time to give real credit and admiration to the most underrated keeper of all times, Victor Valdes.

Congrats Barca fans, I finally have something to cheer about after a rough week.

 

[Pogba4Now]

Yeah not a convincing win, but your finishing has been great. Real Madrid had twice more shots that you guys. 3 big points for you, 3 points clear. Congrats.

 

[Dytza]

Yeah not a convincing win, but your finishing has been great. Real Madrid had twice more shots that you guys. 3 big points for you, 3 points clear. Congrats.

Why do you think it wasn't a convincing win? We totally dominated them in the midfield and Xavi's class passes gave us two goals. Is it more important to have more 30m shots than box shots? I think it was a very convincing win. More convincing than the 1-0 one.

 

[Pogba4Now]

It was a good win but from a neutral point of view, I thought both teams played equally well. You guys had better finishing and won. Well deserved.

 

[kp41]

Buti, do you have all of your previous signatures?

 

[Arnau]

Diferent score, same humillation.

 

[ADC1987]

Man of the Match:

 

[Sevillista]

From March:

He also said, "We will win El Clasico and La Liga"

Madrid players need to shut the f*ck up and stop making predictions. Did they not learn from the "3-0" prediction before Lyon?

 

[MaestroZidane]

Congrats to Barca..

edit: I was going to blast a few people here, but why bother.. I will only say, Sevillista, what should have Ronaldo said at the beggining of the season?? "... nah! we won't win anything..."?

 

[Pogba4Now]

I think he meant that they say they will win it for sure. They should've said something like "I think we have a great chance" rather than "we WILL win it".

EDIT: I don't understand Spanish, so I'm just assuming what Sevillista said is what CR said.

 

[Sevillista]

Congrats to Barca..

edit: I was going to blast a few people here, but why bother.. I will only say, Sevillista, what should have Ronaldo said at the beggining of the season?? "... nah! we won't win anything..."?

You never predict wins, especially scorelines. It's insulting to your opponent, gives them something to feed on, and makes the player/coach/president look like an arrogant fool when they lose. Look at CR9's and Sergio Ramos' predictions of a 3-0 win against Lyon. You must always respect your opponent and let your playing do the talking. That goes for everyone (Del Nido has made stupid predictions in the past as well), but Madrid seem to do it consistently and never learn. Maybe it's because there's a media circus surrounding them, but they should know better.

Btw, those things Ronaldo said were not at the beginning of the season. They were both within the past couple of weeks.

You can "blast" me, but all I am doing is defending sportsmanship.

Speaking of sportsmanship, kudos to you for coming to the boards even after a tough loss.

 

[Jaboldinho]

Xavi, Puyol and Valdes were definitely our best players. Not much that needs to be said about that.

A very big three points in the bag, and with the momentum of this game, we're due to win La Liga, once again. Let's not screw this up.

And how Ramos played the whole match is just unbelievable, he had 2 challenges worthy of a yellow card after his first. Well, I guess you could make a point for sending Dani off too, so no problem. But how Gago didn't get booked all night is beyond me - always coming to the challenges studs first.

Well, I guess it's rather pointless to go into those little meaningless details - we won, and that's all that really matters. Let's enjoy it, my fellow Cules.

 

[Dytza]

Congrats to Barca..

edit: I was going to blast a few people here, but why bother.. I will only say, Sevillista, what should have Ronaldo said at the beggining of the season?? "... nah! we won't win anything..."?

why didn't any of barça players say something like that?

 

[Arnau]

HD + RAC1 Audio = Orgasmic.

 

[Mandieta6]

I said:

That post was a reply only to Mandieta6.

He considers Pep as a toy in Barça's dressing room.

Yeah, sure.

I was actually at Barcelona yesterday and watched the match at the hotel, most of it anyway. Thought Madrid were very good at first and just lost steam in the 2nd half. The first goal went completely against the run of play, IMO. Xavi had a fantastic match, and they mnagaed to neutralise Cristiano when they moved Alves back to his rightful place. I'll give Pep credit where it's due, he tinkered with his tactics, and the idea behind it was good, but I don't think he got it right. Ronaldo went 1 on 1 with Pique several times and those were Madrid's most dangerous moments. Despite the idea that Puyol and Alves would contain him, it left Puyol having to match Ronaldo's speed, which he can't do, and it took good defending from Pique (although in some instances Ronaldo had the upper hand), to make up for it. Also, Alves behind behind Marcelo for the whole match meant he didn't have to worry about covering 2 players on the flank, and Puyol certainly didn't worry them in attack, allowing him more freedom to attack, and he too, was quite dangerous. Again, good for Pep, it shows good thinking, and some of those changes will pay off, but it didn't quite work yesterday, although in essence, having a flat back four should've neutralised Madrid's counters, and their few attacks suggests it did, but it certainly didn't stop Ronaldo, which was half the plan.

Barcelona were definitely the better over 90 minutes, although Madrid didn't make it easy on them. If they had persisted after the first goal, it could've gone another way, but they didn't.

I got both Marca's, today's and yesterday's, and I think the whole MArca debate that was raging here was blown a bit out of proportion. Some of the writers were clearly biased, but in general, they gave credit where it's due. I certainly won't be buying another one, though. Half the things in there were plain obvious, a quarter they got wrong, and very little was any good. Not to mention they have no idea about the Premiership, saying things I'd expect of someone like kp, and sharing old news in the 2 pages they dedicated to the league over two issues.

Anyway, going back to the debate a bit. I respect Pep a bit more after yesterday, mostly because he showed he CAN make good changes, but it'll take experience for him to master this aspect, so, I think he could become a fantastic manager, but right now, last night didn't make me think he was anywhere near as good as is suggested, but as someone said, he's the perfect manager for the team because he knows the style inside out.

 

[Xifio]

Once, putting Pedro so upfront (meaning not letting Ramos go forward) was great. Then, the move with Alves and Puyol on the right wing neutralizing Ronaldo. Milito and especially Pique were fantastic on the center (btw, Gabi is fine). Then, Valdes had another impressive night. In the midfield, Busquets were great, while Xavi was just GOD.

the first half setup didn't work that well, TBH ... like I mentioned in a previous post (during the match), the first half formation saw no one really being played out of position, but that didn't necessarily mean that it was the best way to set up the side ... Cristiano Ronaldo was cropping up all over the park in the first half (right, left, centre, cutting in from either side), so any plan to neutralize him down one flank would have gone out the window once that became apparent ...

On the second half, Pep again made an awesome move with Alves as RB, Puyol as LB and moving Maxwell upfront. While Pelegrini probably thought through the whole first half what to do in the second one, Pep changed players' positioning and again showed he's a big coach. Then, he introduced Iniesta, a great sub in the best moment, when we needed to keep the ball and control the game.

the change in setup at the start of the second half is how I thought the team should have started the match, and again as I mentioned in that same post during the match, I was happy he made the necessary changes ... Iniesta coming on for Maxwell was always going to be a great substitution, especially when you consider that Iniesta is one of the best midfielders on the planet (and has been for a 2-3 years now), and would have definitely started if he was fully fit and able to play 90 minutes ...

let's not forget that Real Madrid were a little lacklustre of their own accord ... van der Vaart had a golden chance to score, which he wasted ... and then there was a very fast counter following a Barcelona corner, that saw Cristiano Ronaldo wide open on the left, but Marcelo, who was cantering up the right side of the pitch, failed to find him with his aerial switch pass ...

I respect Pep a bit more after yesterday, mostly because he showed he CAN make good changes, but it'll take experience for him to master this aspect

well he's been making changes, and trying new things this season (especially the second half of it), either due the lack of certain personnel, or due to a long-enough period of one system not quite clicking (like the traditional Barcelona 4-3-3, which hasn't really been seen since it was changed) ... so I find it to be a bit silly to hear that this match is what convinced you of Pep's abilities, because he has been tinkering for quite a while now, and this was one of those matches where things worked out efficiently enough in both attack and defence to lead to a win, but it was not a classically dominant display ...

I think he could become a fantastic manager, but right now, last night didn't make me think he was anywhere near as good as is suggested, but as someone said, he's the perfect manager for the team because he knows the style inside out.

it was Vedran who said so ... and you and others are right to say that he is perfect for this team ... there are many reasons for this:

- he knows the style not just because he is a former Barça player, but because he learnt the Barça philosophy directly from the man responsible for ensuring that it became the club's philosophy!

- having worn a Barça jersey as recently as 2001, and having coached the cantera side before this, he was knowledgeable of, and comfortable with, the stadium, the pitch, the facilities, and the young players he is incorporating into the senior team, before even starting his first day of work back in 2008 ...

- he's Catalan, so both the fans and the media will want him to succeed ...

- he was a club captain, so obviously had leadship skills ... but he has shown himself to be more cerebral than just an ordinary captain, which means that what he learnt well from Cruyff, he would have learnt well; and he would have been thinking about what he was learning while he was learning, so he could tweak any weak points, and evolve the ideology one step further ...

- he was put at the helm of one of the most talented teams in the world (the core of which has been maintained for the past 5-6 years), with the scope and freedom to trim the deadweight stars who could no longer pull their weight (sometimes literally), and the cash to bring in the missing links wherever they were ...

with all those things combining for Pep, there was no transition time, and there could be no more perfect conditions for someone to not just succeed, but to become a legend ... which he has done quite emphatically!

the hype around him is just crazy though ... while it is understandable why it is what it is, that doesn't make it all true ... there is a lot of tactical dexterity for him to develop, which he has started to do in the second half of this season -- it is the fact that he is trying and testing various setups and combinations that is encouraging to see, and not because they have all worked well ...

keeping this up for an extended period of time, possibly taking the performances to another level, possibly having to rebuild once this cycle ends, will all be difficult challenges that we are yet to see Pep deal with ... but he has plenty of time and certainly enough potential to become amongst the greatest managers of all time ... but, again like Vedran said, let's wait 10 years and talk about it then ... for now, it is enough to recognize that he is the perfect man for the job right now ...

and with the perfect manager in charge of one of the most talented teams ever, with one of the most talented players ever, it is fill-yer-boots time for Barça fans ...