La Liga Thread

[iseah100 5,612]

Lmao! Benitez has a shit team.

[communicate 2,703]

Lmao! Benitez has a shit team.

Their performance in the 1st half was shocking. Barca completely destroyed them

[iseah100 5,612]

Their performance in the 1st half was shocking. Barca completely destroyed them

Made them look like amateurs tbh. And they didn't even have the best player in the world playing.

[illmatic 901]

Danilo getting destroyed by Neymar..

That this last option, has not ended in a goal, is an injustice of life.

Outstanding exhibition from Barcelona. And without Messi!.

[Special Juan 27,424]

0-3 and bring Messi on

[communicate 2,703]

Barcelona was mocking real Madrid. They used El clasico to give messi game time and build his match fitness

[didierforever 7,349]

Barca absolutely plastered Madrid. Embarrassed them.

[Last Sicarius 610]

Just rape. Neymar&Suarez were incredible.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Neymar is currently the best player on the planet.

[Jase 43,479]

@ Benitez.

[ulvhedin 507]

Benitez showed no balls (or was forced to) - he played the best team on a paper, but..

good luck with playing with one player in terrible form (Ronaldo), three players after injuries (Benz, Bale, James) and Kross/Modric midfield against Barcelona. And to add Danilo disaster.. He should played with Casemiro, then maybe he would have some chances, but anyway Barcelona was great.

[DYC. 7,542]

Iniesta. Phenom.

Should've won a Ballon d'Or. Sad it's turned into a Golden Boot.

All-time great. One of the best ever.

Edt: Busquets is perfection. James is a stellar player. Benitez took him off even though he was Real's best player. For Isco as well, another AM. Idiotic move.

[Fulham Broadway 16,832]

Oh dear. Royal Madrid wont be happy with Tubbynitez

[iseah100 5,612]

Lmao!!! That was entertaining. Messi-Meymar-Suarez are the best trio ever.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

How Rafa kept Danilo on I will never know..

Also,, pretty Sure Rafa spent all week planning for their game against Shakhtar in the UCL.. clearly wasn't gonna let the EL Classico get in the way of priorities now can we?

[DYC. 7,542]

How Rafa kept Danilo on I will never know..

Also,, pretty Sure Rafa spent all week planning for their game against Shakhtar in the UCL.. clearly wasn't gonna let the EL Classico get in the way of priorities now can we?

What is a new Real manager without a Barcelona hazing? It's tradition.

Bizarre subs. Taking off James as well even though he was their best player. Big mistakes in the starting line-up as well. How do you play Modric and Kroos in midfield with Marcelo and Danilo at fullback and Cristiano and Bale on the flanks? More gaps than a Las Vegas strip club.

Preparing for Barca must be the most difficult, intimidating and frustrating task for Real managers since the Guardiola era. It takes a while before the manager comes up with a proper game plan.

Someone needs to tell Bale he's not good enough not to work his ass off.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

What is a new Real manager without a Barcelona hazing? It's tradition.

Bizarre subs. Taking off James as well even though he was their best player. Big mistakes in the starting line-up as well. How do you play Modric and Kroos in midfield with Marcelo and Danilo at fullback and Cristiano and Bale on the flanks? More gaps than a Las Vegas strip club.

Preparing for Barca must be the most difficult, intimidating and frustrating task for Real managers since the Guardiola era. It takes a while before the manager comes up with a proper game plan.

Someone needs to tell Bale he's not good enough not to work his ass off.

Well Toni Kroos and Modric aren't really the main issues. They both played in the last two el classicos IIRC, and Real Madrid certainly didn't deserve to lose the previous one in March where both started. They didn't help today admittedly, but the back-line was allllll over the place. Varane gave the ball away so cheaply, Danilo was losing every 1v1 battle with Neymar, and Sergio Ramos was abysmal in the back, for that second goal (asking for the offsides, and last goal (comes up to press Messi, who slots it in to Suarez).

Marcelo is the key man, when he plays well, RM play well, and he was barely given the chance to get involved in attacks.

IMO, it was their formation when defending and their defensive game plan as well. In the previous El Classico in March, RM played a clear 442 in defense and Bale (as you point out) was forced to track back, not so much in this 433. And the press was so ineffective, Barca kept playing out of it too easily. Almost like i was watching Chelsea in disguise. Have to say though,Bale produced some fantastic passes, Claudio Bravo played out of his skin.

They just lacked a gameplan to put it simply. Or maybe they had one that was so awful. Is it hard? Absolutely. But this Barca team is just so adaptable, hard to know what to prepare for. They can play that possesion game on you (while being way more direct to goal than Guardiola's teams) or play on the counter-attack. Then you see them switch it up on you mid-game altering between the two. RIP.

[DYC. 7,542]

Well Toni Kroos and Modric aren't really the main issues. They both played in the last two el classicos IIRC, and Real Madrid certainly didn't deserve to lose the previous one in March where both started. They didn't help today admittedly, but the back-line was allllll over the place. Varane gave the ball away so cheaply, Danilo was losing every 1v1 battle with Neymar, and Sergio Ramos was abysmal in the back, for that second goal (asking for the offsides, and last goal (comes up to press Messi, who slots it in to Suarez).

Marcelo is the key man, when he plays well, RM play well, and he was barely given the chance to get involved in attacks.

IMO, it was their formation when defending and their defensive game plan as well. In the previous El Classico in March, RM played a clear 442 in defense and Bale (as you point out) was forced to track back, not so much in this 433. And the press was so ineffective, Barca kept playing out of it too easily. Almost like i was watching Chelsea in disguise. Have to say though,Bale produced some fantastic passes, Claudio Bravo played out of his skin.

They just lacked a gameplan to put it simply. Or maybe they had one that was so awful. Is it hard? Absolutely. But this Barca team is just so adaptable, hard to know what to prepare for. They can play that possesion game on you (while being way more direct to goal than Guardiola's teams) or play on the counter-attack. Then you see them switch it up on you mid-game altering between the two. RIP.

I think playing Kroos and Modric in the middle against a team of this calibre is extremely difficult to pull off. Barca's midfield usually take control versus a three man midfield so against two it becomes a bit too easy. But if you are going to play them, you have to make sure they only have to deal with the middle of the park and still give them plenty of support. A high energy performance is your only option. But with Bale and Cristiano on the wings, you're fullbacks are exposed (James did his work but tired as the game wore on). Which means Modric and Kroos had to offer support, or one of the centrebacks have to support the fullbacks. But that leaves you with gaps everywhere. You can't defend like that against Sevilla or Villarreal... Barca will murder you.

Real's defence was indeed a shambles today but it always starts up top. Real couldn't keep the ball to save their lives. That left them exposed to countless transitions. They didn't press either (lack of back tracking I already mentioned). It took one or two passes to get past Real's midfield. That's unacceptable. And they were disjointed... So all the pressure was on the defence. No defence can deal with that. Danilo was absolutely terrible though. My goodness.

Bale had one or two good moments. But it's easier to create chances when you're trailing two or three goals. The team in the lead becomes less focused, make mistakes etc. I thought Real were horrible from the start. Truly horrendous. I agree with Henry's comments (he said Real played without intensity and he could not understand how that's possible). They were so lackadaisical. Look at Barca's second goal again. Modric receives the ball (with Suarez already moving towards him so it was not an ideal move). He turns and no one is available for a pass. They just stood still and were marked (Barca pushed their last line to midfield). Modric continues moving with the ball and gets dispossessed. When dispossessed, they jog back. That's 1-0 down at home. Against Barca. Wow. Both on the ball and off the ball you don't or barely move. I doubt that was in the manager's game plan.