Barcelona Blog
Xavi Hernandez was forced to adopt a defensive method after he scored a goal against Real Madrid in El Clasico, which was held yesterday, Thursday, at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in the first leg of the King of Spain.
Xavi entered the match suffering from a significant numerical deficiency, as four of his most prominent key players were absent: Robert Lewandowski, Pedri, Osman Dembele and Christensen due to injury.
The way Barcelona played did not impress the newspapers, the fans, and even the Real Madrid coach himself after the match. Indeed, Barcelona’s possession of the ball in some periods of the match reached 35%, which is unusual for the ball offered by the Catalan team, which depends on possession and spinning the ball.
In any case, one of the most famous coaches who plays in a defensive manner is Diego Simeone, coach of Atletico Madrid, who defended the way Barcelona played yesterday and succeeded in maintaining its progress and ending the match by winning with a clean goal.
When asked about the way Barcelona played against Real Madrid, Simeone answered during the press conference for the Atletico Madrid and Seville match, saying: “Football is a game in which plans change during matches.”
He added, “Barcelona realized that at that moment they needed to perform in this way to win and they did it in the best way. They say what they say. What matters is what you see, what matters are the facts. This defensive method was comfortable for him, he defended in an organized way, and Real Madrid had no tricks. I congratulate Barcelona for the match.”
Regarding attacking Atletico Madrid’s defensive method, the Argentine coach said: “When a team other than Atletico Madrid plays in this way, it seems normal. The only important thing is to win and there are different ways to win, all good, you have to respect it and be consistent with how you feel.
The coach also talked about the yellow card that Vinicius Jr. got after a huge friction with Frenkie de Jong on the wrestling method.
It is a shot exactly like what happened between Savic and Ferran Torres in the last Barcelona-Atletico Madrid match, and by chance the same referee was running the match.
In the shot of Savic and Ferran Torres, the referee pointed out the red card directly, unlike what he did with Vinicius. On that matter, Simeone said: “It is exactly the same shot as I saw it. The pictures explain it better and it is difficult to add more to what is seen.”
Sources: Marca and AS
