Five thoughts from the first leg of the Copa del Rey and Barcelona's 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the latest clásico.
1. Pepe.
[...] The stamp was significant on another level too, symbolic of Pepe's
performance and indicative of why he has become a problem. Not just for
Spanish soccer but for Real Madrid itself.
Pepe plays in a way that is so accelerated, so out of control, so
aggressive, that he is a card waiting to happen. He now has nine yellow
cards in 11 clásicos and picked up a red card in last year's Champions
League semifinal, leaving his team with 10 men. It is not a coincidence.
Even the questionable cards are a product of his exaggeratedly
aggressive approach to the game. If you constantly walk the line, you
eventually overstep it. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho must take some of the
responsibility for that: Pepe is played in midfield precisely to
provide some aggression. Mourinho values the intimidation he brings.
But the value in Pepe's game as a midfielder is questionable, way
beyond the risks inherent in transgressing the rules. Last night, he
rarely represented an impenetrable barrier -- even when Madrid's tactics
appeared to be working. The players who most prevented Barcelona from
progressing were more often Lassana Diarra, Hamit Altintop and Sergio
Ramos than Pepe. In terms of winning the ball back, he did so less than
Barcelona's Sergio Busquets. Pepe won the ball less than he lost it. His
inclusion as a central midfielder also meant that Xabi Alonso, Madrid's
one ball-playing central midfielder, was pushed right where his
influence on the game is limited.
Pepe's constructive contribution was minimal. He neither protected
Madrid from Barcelona nor aided them in attacking Barcelona. In 90
minutes, Pepe attempted just attempted just 17 passes, of which only 10
were successful. His opposite number in the Barcelona team, Busquets,
attempted 117 and completed 109. In part, that was the
difference between the two sides. There is a phrase that gets used in
Spain: tell me what kind of central midfielder you have and I will tell
you what kind of team you are. As far as Real Madrid were concerned, the
answer was: not a very good one.
2. Ronaldo. All that talk of Ronaldo not doing it in the clásicos and it was his teammates that didn't, not him.
3. Leo Messi. Some players are finished when they no
longer have the physique. Leo Messi will not be. Speed is a huge part
of his game but it is only part. Last night he showed once again why he
is so complete. Messi still lacks that turn of pace, that acceleration,
that makes him so special -- "it'll come back," said Guardiola -- but he
still has touch and vision. When he is 36 he will still be a great
player. He showed that last night: in a game in which he was denied
space, bullied and largely subdued, in which he was not quick, he still
produced a wonderful assist for Eric Abidal's goal.
4. Pinto. Pepe Guardiola had insisted before the
game that he would be letting Pinto down if he did not include him in
the side to face Real Madrid. He also said that he would be letting
himself down -- his policy of playing his second choice goalkeeper in
the Copa del Rey was steadfast, no matter who the opponents. It was a
question of justice and principles. After 10 minutes, many fans were
wishing he had made an exception.
The odd thing was that, after their first goal, Madrid did not seek
to press home the advantage. You imagined its players taking shots from
everywhere -- after all, it does not take much to open up a shooting
opportunity if you are prepared to do so from distance -- but it never
happened. Madrid did not have another shot in the rest of the half. It
did not have another attempt on target in the entire game. Pinto may
have been a weak link but Real Madrid never tested him again.
One thing is worth noting, too: Pinto was complicit in Madrid's
opening goal last night. But so had Valdés been in their opening goal a
month earlier.
5. Jose Mourinho. It is a measure of just how good
this Barcelona team is that they make very good teams look like very bad
ones. When Mourinho plays extremely defensively against Barca, it is
the greatest compliment that anyone could pay Guardiola's men: even the
second best side in the world, one that has spent almost half a billion
euros on players since the return of Florentino Pérez as president,
admits its inferiority. So to destroy Mourinho for every clásico defeat
is also to fail to recognize what it is that Barcelona has achieved and
just how good it is. Just as losing two Champions League finals does not
make Alex Ferguson a terrible coach. Mourinho's success is
unquestionable and it is also true that in Pep Guardiola's time in
charge, he has only failed to win three trophies -- and it was Mourinho
who took two of them.
And yet ... Mourinho is a coach whose discourse is very simple and
utterly incontestable: I win. Against Barcelona since coming to Spain,
largely he has not. He has won just one in nine clásicos -- thanks to
Ronaldo's headed goal in the 2011 Copa del Rey final. Mourinho has
offered up a number of reasons -- or excuses, depending on which side of
the divide you find yourself -- but that is to contradict his own
message of what counts is what you have won. He would argue that for a
while last night his tactics worked, and in a sense it did, but the
paucity of the plan was eventually exposed. If he is lauded as a
tactical genius when he succeeds -- and that is the only measure he
admits -- then he must be questioned when he does not. Besides, not only
did his team lose again but it was left again with that inescapable
feeling of inferiority. Meanwhile, the continued run of bad results
brings other problems: mentally, the clásico gets harder and harder.
Bringing in Mourinho and his staff cost over €100 million ($128M). He
has been granted a degree of support and power that no other coach has
been handed at the Bernabéu. He is the manager now, not just the coach
-- the man who decides transfers not just tactics. He has tried formula
after formula against Barcelona and they have not worked. Easy to say
with hindsight, sure, but at key moments he has made big mistakes.
Madrid has evolved, it has grown stronger and it is now a fantastic
soccer team -- and one that is achieving incredible things. In fact,
it's favorite to win the league. But viewed through the prism of FC
Barcelona, Mourinho has not yet succeeded. And last night Madrid
appeared worse than it was in August when it was unlucky not to win the
Spanish Super Cup. It is hard to detect a clear idea, a plan, a
progression. Looked at through the rivalry, right now is Madrid really
better off than it was?
Second leg. There still is one, you know.
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