Visually analyzing Real Madrid’s near-perfect Clasico performance

Possession-heavy teams like Barcelona tend to preach control with the ball, but not Real Madrid, who are gradually becoming a unicorn football team that’s imposing control off the ball while preserving their on-ball dominance when needed. The 250th Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona was living proof of it. Let’s dive deeper into today’s vi-thread to understand better.

Touchmap

Barcelona had a lot of touches outside Real Madrid’s penalty area, on both flanks. Real Madrid was okay to concede possession in these areas by design. In exchange, they preserved their defensive shape in a way that would allow them to launch counter-attacks of their own.

Passing Network

Real Madrid’s passing network suggests they deployed a double pivot while in possession. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric were at their orchestral best with running rings around Barcelona’s midfield.

Ferland Mendy arguably played one of the best games of his Real Madrid career in terms of occupying the correct spaces while Madrid had the ball. Madrid had their passing triangles sorted for most of the 90 minutes.

Vinicius Jr was isolated by Barcelona in this game which is being seen as one of his most underwhelming performances this season. But Vinicius Jr operates at a level where even on this kind of a night, he was heavily involved in both of Madrid’s goals.

xT

Real Madrid’s midfield domination was probably not as apparent during the game but in reality, it lived up to the billing. A lot of Madrid’s potent sequences stemmed from their own half. Modric, Fede Valverde, and Dani Carvajal worked well in tandem to keep Barcelona on their toes on the right.

Toni Kroos

The difference between a Toni Kroos masterclass and a completely regular day in the office is very thin. Even then, the Clasico was a masterclass. This wasn’t a game where Kroos made more than 150 touches or completed more than 100 passes but everything he did was picture-perfect. Barcelona’s exhausted midfield had no clue or right to stand up to him on the night and they didn’t.