Raphinha decides the Las Vegas Classic

A different Classic. That is what could be seen in Las Vegas. Real Madrid and Barça opted to face each other once again in the preseason and where better to do it than in the city of the game. There a meeting of premieres could be seen. It was for Robert Lewandowski, Rüdiger and Tchouameni, all starters in a game that went from more to less, but that had sections of real vertigo for a friendly commitment. In this context, Xavi’s team shone, being able to take the first stake thanks to a great goal by Raphinha from outside the area in the first half.

In the Allegiant Stadium a game was played with the hallmarks of both teams. Xavi arranged his usual 4-3-3 with Busquets, Gavi and Pedri in midfield and a stellar attack made up of Ansu Fati, Raphinha and Lewandowski. The eleven was a message, but also the approach. Barça came out with high pressure, trying to make the opposing field uncomfortable and with a sharp fang thanks to all the talent that it brings together, now yes, on the offensive plot. It is in that place where a star was born for the Catalans. Raphinha is overflow, freshness and imagination. It is a loose verse that at all times bothered him on the left-hand side and that at the first change an unappealable left-footed shot was taken from the hat for Courtois. It was the climax for a team that left good feelings in the first half and that only needed to find Lewandowski in better positions in front of goal to embroider Xavi’s plans.

That goal culminated the Blaugrana’s superiority against a Real Madrid lacking rhythm in their first pre-season game. The whites made their debut without Benzema and Carvajal, both left at the last minute, but they did so with an eleven in which Carlo Ancelotti was able to test. Rüdiger was a left-back, he started unit B in midfield with Tchouaméni, Camavinga and Fede Valverde and in attack the great novelty was Hazard acting as a false 9. The experiment went halfway because the meringues were not able to stop the rapid circulation of his rival but they did know how to be damaging in transitions thanks to the speed of Vinicius and Rodrygo and the verticality of Fede Valverde who was able to overtake his team with a shoe that crashed into the wood.

The second half was a totally different game, it was much more of a pre-season commitment. It was because Ancelotti and Xavi started a carousel of changes that led to a 180-degree turn in the meeting’s script. The Italian coach wanted to stop the dynamics of the first half with a stroke of the pen and he did so by bringing in Casemiro, Kroos and Modric, three players who gave the Whites greater balance and caused the pace to drop precipitously. Real Madrid also took the opportunity to give minutes to less usual footballers, among whom the presence of players who still have their future up in the air, such as Mariano, Ceballos, Asensio or Odriozola, stood out, and they made a change by overtaking their full-backs with the aim of avoiding the Blaugrana’s first line of pressure. The plan worked but there was a lack of depth to disturb the rival goal and reverse the clash.

Xavi was no stranger to the new scenario. He retired a Lewandowski who was participatory and gradually modified the eleven until leaving a flat team in the final stretch of the game. The Kessié, Sergi Roberto, Nico, Memphis and company still do not have the automatisms that the starting footballers do have for the one from Tarrasa and that was accused by a predictable Barça in their attacks. Only Dembélé, very focused on running behind Mendy’s back, was able to unsettle Courtois who prevented Mosquito from closing the game with two right hands on the run in the final minutes. It was the end of a game that went from more to less, but in which the first conclusions of the two giants of Spanish football could already be drawn.