Barça – Real Madid 1-2 – Forget Varane-Ramos: at Real, Alaba and Militao already rule

Real Madrid don’t just rely on Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior. On Barça’s lawn (1-2 victory), the Merengue did not rely on their two star attackers, but on their defense and more particularly on their central hinge made up of Eder Militao and David Alaba to extinguish the offensive wills of their rivals.

The Brazilian and the Austrian fulfilled their mission perfectly and the second even signed his birth certificate with the Merengue by scoring a superb goal, his first in his new colors.

“As usual he was where he was needed, welcomed the coach Carlo Ancelotti by evoking the superb performance of Alaba for his first Clasico. He found some space and he played really well. ” Author of a great performance on the defensive plan, the 29-year-old Austrian international also stood out by opening the scoring in a first closed period while his team, very cautious, was dominated in the game.

After recovering the ball in front of Memphis Depay in his 30 meters, he continued his effort to the surface of Barça to unleash a powerful shot that ended in the back of the net. He thus allowed Real to apply their defensive strategy.

Praise in “Ramos” mode

“We had a pragmatic, very intelligent match, analyzed the Madrid coach. Defensively, we were very good. We suffered, and we were able to suffer. Even without the ball, we did not lose control of the match, it is also a virtue “. If Barça tried to push throughout the meeting, the Merengue have indeed never folded and perfectly contained Memphis Depay, Ansu Fati or Philippe Coutinho and Thibaut Courtois hardly had to intervene. Sergio Agüero scored well in the dying seconds of added time, but it was already too late because the visitors had made the break.

Arrived free in the offseason at Real Madrid from Bayern Munich where he spent the last 10 years, Alaba had the difficult task of taking over from legend Sergio Ramos. If he does not have the aggressiveness and charisma of the Spaniard, the Austrian is part of his lineage because he was able to turn into a scorer in a great match as his predecessor knew how to do.

He responded at the best time after an unconvincing start to the year. This is the reality: it took him a while to really find his feet after having to evolve at the left-back position to compensate for the absence of Ferland Mendy.

Following the departure of Raphaël Varane, Eder Militao has finally become an indisputable holder after two years of adaptation. On the lawn of Camp Nou, the 23-year-old Brazilian was also impeccable in his placement and his interventions.

Alongside Alaba, he showed real authority and applied himself in his reminders to give air to his people. Real Madrid turned a glorious page in their history last summer but can now count on their two central defenders to write a new one.