BarcelonaBarça’s defeat against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou has been channeled into an unpleasant scene after the match. On his way out of the stadium, Ronald Koeman saw a group of people, mostly young people, approach his car and hit him and insult him. A dozen individuals have made their way through a larger group of people photographing and recording the departure of the Dutch coach. For a few moments, Koeman had to almost brake his vehicle seeing that his exit was obstructed.
The unpleasant situation that Ronald Koeman has had to live in his own flesh has come after a new defeat against Real Madrid. Although the Dutchman introduced several changes and nuances to the team to face the visit of the whites, the duel has opted for the Madrid side (1-2). In fact, for quite a few minutes of the first half, the Dutchman’s plan was more effective than that of his counterpart Carlo Ancelotti, but after the break the work was wasted and the team ended up certifying defeat.
Barça, small against the big teams
With this defeat, Koeman accumulates his third consecutive defeat as a coach against the eternal rival, a fact that has not happened since the 30s. Since occupying the bench, the team has failed to reverse a negative dynamic against the teams first level: of the last nine official matches against Real Madrid or Atlético de Madrid, Barça have not won any. If the perspective is extended to all the matches that Koeman has led against rivals, Barça have only won against Juventus (0-2). Against PSG, Bayern and Benfica, no victory.
This Sunday, the script against the big teams at times seemed to have been different, because the staging of the Catalan team has been consistent. Barça began to be the owner and lord of the ball, with Memphis giving (today yes) depth from the left side and Barça starring more times than the whites during the first 45 minutes. But Madrid, without suffering much, had enough to wait in the middle of the block, survive in the worst moments (helped by Dest’s mistake) and execute a clear idea: every recovery that Barça took with the lines advanced was an opportunity to attack on the counter. When the ball reached Courtois’ hands, the elga spared no second in sending a long ball looking for the speed of Vinicius or Rodrygo.
With very little, Madrid prevails
In this way the first goal of the whites has arrived: loss of Memphis with the two azulgranas lateral ones added to the attack, exercise of faith of Alava to cross all the field while the Dutch attacker of the Barça decided not to follow him, and the Austrian, with his quality, who has ended up opening the scoring. With very little, Madrid has been able to make its game script more effective than Barça’s. Despite conceding the first goal, Koeman’s players kept the initial plan until the break, trying to maintain the intensity of the pressure.
This is exemplified by Busquets, who when the team began to give up efforts, was the first to go to press on a couple of occasions, conveying to his teammates the message that he should continue to be brave and bite the exit of white ball. “We have shown that we are not inferior to Madrid. We have gone from a possible 1-0 to 0-1. We will improve little by little,” said Koeman after the match, minutes before the Dantesque episode he would end up living. on leaving the stadium.
In the trash the job well done
The good work done in the first half, when the Barça team failed, essentially, in what Koeman had demanded in the previous one – “to be effective” -, was thrown in the rubbish from the second half. With the 4-3-3 defeated with the entry of Coutinho by Mingueza, the team has changed into a 4-2-3-1 that has only worked with a few minutes of rauxa that Madrid soon knew how to dust off . The team has stopped pressing with success, although Busquets has continued to try to put high pressure, and Madrid has even managed, in some sections of the game, possession of the ball in defensive areas, which has caused some whistles among Barça fans.
A very poor white team has gone through the second half without taking many risks, and, in fact, the feeling of helplessness has taken over an increasingly blurred Barça that saw everything go as the whites wanted . The Barça team, with more heart than football, tried to get closer to the rival area, but the attacks were disorderly and failed in essential issues such as controls or body orientation in the face of the shot. “Having centered 34 times means we’ve had the ball. In attack we have to improve a lot of things. The position in the area, the last crosses, the last passes …”, said Koeman.
With the team completely divided, if the result has not been broader it has been because Ancelotti’s team, unlike Bayern Munich, has spared Barça’s life. A reading not shared by the Barça coach: “It is an exaggeration to say that Madrid could have beaten us, even though they had more chances in the second half. They are dangerous in the counterattack. It is almost impossible to control the space behind us. They created more danger in the second half than in the first. ” With three chances, Madrid have scored two goals.
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