On one aspect of El Clásico, there was Kylian Mbappé. There have been Vinícius Jr. and Jude Bellingham. There have been the , the , essentially the most feared assault in soccer, the rationale Actual Madrid was the overwhelming favourite to win La Liga.
And on the opposite, the Barcelona aspect, there was zero concern.
There was, as an alternative, a daring offside lure that foiled and pissed off Actual Madrid; and, within the second half, there was Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski scored twice in three minutes Saturday to silence Madrid’s palatial Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and break open the season’s first Clásico. Barca’s teen sensation, Lamine Yamal, ultimately added a 3rd purpose. Quickly thereafter, Raphinha sealed a deserved 4-0 victory.
However the story of the sport unspooled in an enchanting first half. Many times, Actual Madrid raced ahead. And many times, Mbappé was thwarted by a method that, pundits insisted, Barcelona absolutely would not make use of towards the champs.
Below German supervisor Hansi Flick, Barca has pressed and squeezed opponents into submission this season. Forwards have hunted the ball. Defenders have held a perilously excessive line that restricts area in entrance of them, tilts the sector and permits Barca to play on the entrance foot for 90 madcap minutes.
But when it did that towards Mbappé and Vini, the pondering went, with a lot area behind it, it could get punished.
“In the event that they play like that, they’ll concede purpose after purpose after purpose,” ESPN shade commentator Steve McManaman warned as Saturday’s recreation acquired underway.
Barca, although, by no means flinched. It not solely “performed like that,” it performed the excessive line expertly. It caught Actual Madrid offside eight instances within the recreation’s first 36 minutes. (Eight! In 36 minutes!) Mbappé mis-timed run after run. Followers on the Bernabeu thrashed their arms in fury — however each single name was the right one, as a result of Barca’s midfield was lively and its defenders in-sync.
Within the thirtieth minute, Mbappé scored, however VAR overturned the purpose as a result of he was off by half a physique size.
KYLIAN MBAPPE THOUGHT HE OPENED THE SCORING IN HIS FIRST ELCLÁSICO BUT WAS RULED OFFSIDE YET AGAIN 😮
Vini broke the lure as soon as, however dragged his shot extensive of the close to submit. And that, formally, was the one shot Actual Madrid managed in your entire first half — as a result of the remaining had been annulled by an assistant referee’s flag.
For a lot of the half, Barca gave the impression to be skating on proverbial skinny ice. However below Flick — who applied related types on the helm of Bayern Munich and the German nationwide crew — the Catalan children have already grown comfy with peril. They’ve accepted the inherent pitfalls of the technique. They’ve purchased into the assumption that advantages outweigh danger. And so they’ve flourished.
They’ve created extra Anticipated Objectives (xG) than every other crew in Europe’s Large 5 leagues by a large margin. They’ve now scored 37 targets in 11 La Liga video games.
They’ve additionally caught opponents offside a whopping 77 instances, greater than twice as many as every other top-flight crew in Spain, England, Germany or Italy.
All as a result of they “have the balls to play a line of defense that top,” as defensive midfielder Marc Casadó . “It is unimaginable. And for the time being, it is working.”
On Saturday, Mbappé lastly beat their lure within the 71st minute. However his shot was saved, and in addition to, by then, Barca’s rampant assault had performed its factor. Casadó unlocked Actual Madrid with a beautiful by way of ball. Lewandowski beat Madrid’s sloppy offside lure for his first of two targets.
His second was a header. Yamal and Raphinha then added to the tally. Actual Madrid, curiously, felt just like the crew that was fazed by a grand event. And Barca, with the emphatic win, leapt to 30 factors, six away from Madrid atop La Liga.