Barcelona 3 - Real Madrid 2: Exquisite Barcelona make Light Work of Shambolic Real Madrid
Shortly after the third Barcelona goal went in, as Barca players formed a celebration huddle at the edge of the pitch, the main camera panned to the referee, and there was this strange look on his face, as though he was disappointed that Barcelona had scored. Put a white jersey on him, and his reaction was no different from the reaction of Raul Asencio and Tchouameni.
This was a pathetic refereeing showing from Jose Luiz Munuera, who failed to caution Carreras in the first half for a stamp on Lamine Yamal. It was an intentional, studs-to-the-top-of-the-foot challenge; a tackle would have warranted a VAR check, which didn't happen. Not even a yellow card for such a tackle was insanity.
But it mattered little.
Barcelona were sublime in that first half, dripping with conviction that sparkled as brightly as their fresh new uniforms in the warm night at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
There was an intentionality behind each pass, conviction behind each combination play, and swagger coursing through every path created by the brilliant passes them made through Madrid's midfield, where Bellingham, Camavinga, and Valverde were given pacifiers and strapped into their booster seats to watch a proper midfield of De Jong and Pedri at work.
But it would be remiss of me to mention that while Barcelona had Real Madrid tied to their half like a dog on a short leash, they did not create much in the opening few minutes. To be quite fair, Real did look like they wanted to stop Barcelona from being comfortable in their third - and did. Carreras, that stamp on Yamal aside, actually defended well against the child prodigy with sprinkles of rare start dust, while Barcelona's left side, Balde's forte, barely saw any action.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, sought to punish Barcelona with long balls to Vinicius Jr, isolated against Kounde, and the Brazilian did have a beating of Kounde, both in pace and in skill. Kounde could barely lay a hand on him (cause that would result in a penalty anyway, lol).
That first half went against the recent high-octane, balls-to-the-walls exploits of recent El Clásico fixtures. It was like watching two boxers cautiously spar, yet each seeking to just land the one blow that would give them that edge.
It was Barcelona who would strike that first blow. The Blaugrana won the ball in midfield, and Fermin played a pass to Raphinha down the left. The Brazilian raced into the area and, with only Tchouameni standing between him and Courtois in Real Madrid's goal, Raphinha dropped his shoulder to create some space and fired a trademark, low cross to the far post past Courtois's outstretched arms. It was the perfect reposte to an earlier miss, when he fired a much easier chance from an almost similar position way wide after a jaw-dropping layoff from Yamal. Anyway, 1-0 Barcelona.
Soon, though, Real Madrid would equalize through their most obvious route. A long ball to Vini, who beat Kounde once, then squeezed past him and Pedri inside the penalty box, then he easily skipped past Cubarsi and fired a shot beyond Joan Garcia, whose Pterodactyl-like wingspan could not stop that shot. 1-1.
Barcelona would go ahead for a second time in the match when, once again, they won the ball back in midfield, and this time, it was Pedri who fed a sumptuous through pass to Lewandowski, who controlled the ball excellently and chipped it over a desperately flailing Courtois. 2-1 Barcelona
Now, this was where it got interesting. You see, Munuera had added 3 minutes to conclude the half. Barcelona scored their second in the third minute of added time. Surely then, the half only needed to go on a few seconds longer, no? Well, how about three minutes longer? And it was in these three extra ghost minutes that Real Madrid equalized again.
Huijsen headed a corner from Rodrygo goalward, but Raphinha and the upright conspired to prevent the goal, only for the ball to fall on Goncalo Garcia, who threw his legs haphazardly at it and the ball somehow looped in. It was a shambolic goal, but then again, it was a shambolic goal to concede. 2-2.
Second Half Explosions
Lamine Yamal, after a quiet first half, had started to show some signs of coming to life toward the end of that first half, and he continued pulling on that thread on the second. From being dominated by Carreras, Yamal had the beating of the Real Madrid left back, and come the end of the match, Carreras was possibly just a puddle on the ground, pounded into road kill by the slick, slippery left foot and wiry frame of Barcelona's new gen number 10.
That second half sparked to life as both teams woke up to the reality that they were playing a cup final and that, oh yeah, they were age-old rivals. Both teams shed their nonchalant skin, and immediately, the match took on the familiar silhouette of a clash between age-old titans coming to blows.
Suddenly, tempers flared, tackles flew like bats escaping the light, and blood boiled like it was in a sauna. Finally, some edge-of-the-seat explosion from a match that hadn't even simmered! In that boisterous second half, each team threatened, and several times, both Joan Garcia for Barca and Courtois for Real were called into action.
But Barcelona would have the last laugh when quick interplay between Ferran and Olmo saw Olmo slide the ball across the Real Madrid penalty box. Raphinha was first to it, and his shot deflected in via Asencio's foot. It was no less than what the Blaugrana deserved. Barca weren't quite dominant in the second half, but they created the more open-ended chances and stopped Real Madrid from having any foothold in the game.
Mbappe saw a few minutes toward the end of the game, and it was his contribution that led to De Jong's deserved sending off for a high tackle.
After that red card, Real Madrid tried but couldn't hack that equalizer, and in fact, they almost conceded a fourth when Rashford raced onto a clearance, had a clean run on goal, but could only fire wide. In the end, though, Barca held on to win their first trophy of the season. This is Barcelona's fifth victory in six games against Real Madrid since the start of last season. As Lebron James once said, 'Come on man, This is too easy!'
Visca Barca!
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Kiraka D. Mugatsia 'Son of No Man' (@kirakadm.bsky.social) — Bluesky
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