Doce es la dulce
Barcelona won the Clásico in the 92nd minute and now hold a 12-point lead at the top.
Games and seasons often swing on moments, fine margins which tilt the balance of power one way or another. This is true of the 253rd Clásico, a pulsating thriller which saw Barcelona come from behind to beat their eternal rivals 2-1 and take a significant step towards winning the league title for the first time in four years.
In the 81st minute Real Madrid were ahead and set to cut the gap to just six points, narrow enough to apply some pressure on Xavi’s side for the run-in. Carlo Ancelotti’s offensive changes worked and Madrid were set to record three consecutive victories at the Camp Nou in LaLiga, something they had only achieved once before.
Only this was a false reality. After a relatively lengthy VAR review, Marco Asensio’s goal was disallowed for offside. Not by much, but enough. A fine margin.
Ten minutes later Camp Nou erupted in ecstasy, the collective cheer of relief and celebration from almost 96,000 people. Franck Kessié was the hero. An unlikely one, but a hero nonetheless. Barça converted a nervy consolidation of their nine-point lead into the jubilation of a far healthier margin. The scenes at full time said everything. From all the dancing in the centre circle you could be forgiven for thinking this result made it official. Not yet, but surely only a matter of time.
The winner was exquisitely crafted. Madrid were naturally on the attack but when Sergio Busquets – veteran of 47 Clásicos – intercepted a lofted ball nonchalantly with his chest into the path of Frenkie de Jong, Barça sensed their opportunity. The ball was played out to Alejandro Baldé on the left who gave it to Robert Lewandowski before running beyond the Pole. Lewandowski then executed a sublime backheeled pass through Éder Militão and into Baldé’s path. He had the vision and composure to pick Kessié, whose first-time finish was strong enough to beat Thibaut Courtois.
“We are sad and hurt, but proud of the game we have played. If we play like this, surely we will win something at the end of the season. We honestly didn’t deserve the defeat” — Ancelotti assesses the match.
Madrid knew they had to win this game, and Ancelotti kept faith with the lineup which so effortlessly got the job done against Liverpool in midweek. In the first minute, they had forced Marc-André ter Stegen into action, something they were unable to manage in 90 minutes in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. They took the lead in bizarre circumstances, Vini Jr doing well inside the box, twisting into space before attempting a cross. Ronald Araújo got his head to it, but the spin on the ball took it goalwards, brushing the near post before nestling in the far post sidenetting. The crowd were shell-shocked, seeing their side concede a goal at home in the league for only the second time this season, and the first from open play.
Barça responded well, creating pressure and a few sights of goal, making Courtois work on a few occasions. The all-important equaliser came in the last minute of the half, from another unlikely source. Sergi Roberto produced a calm finish to level the game. It wasn’t a bad time for him to score his first Clásico goal, coming in his 19th appearance in the fixture, and it bode well: Barça have a 100% record for games in which the Catalan scored. So it proved.
In the context of Caso Negreira, it came as little surprise that there was a manufactured post-game polémica. The odd thing, however, was that the instigator-in-chief was Carlo Ancelotti. Despite clear VAR imaging, Ancelotti insisted he had doubts about the offside.
“We have not won because of an offside that we still have doubts about. I’m not sure if Asensio was offside? We go back to Madrid with the doubts.” — Ancelotti not content with VAR in this instance.
This can be interpreted in a number of ways. Firstly, it could be a genuine opinion held by the Italian coach, although as an intelligent man the evidence is clear for all to see. More likely is that it was a Mourinhoistic attempt to deflect the discourse away from any criticism of his own decisions in the game, and postpone any discussion about his continuity. A 15 point negative swing since the Bernabéu Clásico in October, combined with the accumulated weight of three consecutive defeats against Barça, the wolves are beginning to circle.
Ancelotti’s fate is likely to be determined by what happens between April 5th and 12th: the return leg of the Copa semi-final, then Villarreal in the league, before the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at home. If those go awry the writing will be on the wall.
By the end of the game, Los Blancos had all of Asensio, Karim Benzema, Vini Jr and Rodrygo on the pitch, but the sense is the reaction came too late. In a game they had to win, Madrid didn’t do enough to force the victory. Rather, it was Barça who generated more and seemed determined to land a knockout blow. 17 shots to 11, 3-0 on big chances, 7-3 for shots on target, the 100th Blaugrana triumph in this fixture was a well-deserved one.
When the dust settles and post-mortems are conducted, this will be a standout moment in the season, a definitive match, but not the decisive one. Defeats at Mallorca and Vallecas, draws at home to Girona and La Real is where the damage has ultimately been done for Madrid.
For Xavi, maybe elimination from Europe was a blessing. Having sharper focus on domestic matters, with fewer matches and more time to prepare helps them stay sharp. The domestic treble is very much in their hands now, and for all the off-field issues, Xavi is doing a remarkable job on it.