La Liga Lowdown, Jornada 13: Magnificent Barcelona victorious in El Clásico

After weeks of constant hype, Barcelona and Real Madrid finally met in the Camp Nou last night for the first Clásico of the season. Weeks of “Messi vs Cristiano”, “Guardiola vs Mourinho” were finally put to an end as Barça emerged as winners. And, not only did they win, they did it in style – their style.

Individual battles aside, this was a game won by a simply incredible team performance. Despite rumoured tactical changes, both teams set out as expected, in their usual formations. Though after a short while, it was clear that there was only one team in this game. It took just six minutes for Barça to create their first chance, with Leo Messi chipping the ball over Iker Casillas, only to find the post. Just four minutes later came the breakthrough; Andrés Iniesta’s incisive through ball made its way past a hopeless Madrid defence, into Xavi Hernández, who managed to casually flick the ball over Casillas.

Ten minutes later the Camp Nou erupted again, as Pedro was on hand to tap home David Villa’s driven cross for his second goal in two Clásicos. Madrid were in shock. More importantly for some, Mourinho was in shock. Barça continued to play the only way they know – the short intricate passes, the intense closing down, Madrid couldn’t cope. It was so unlike a typical Mourinho team; they lacked control, cohesion and solidity, but there was seemingly nothing they could do about it.

And then came the expected spark from Cristiano Ronaldo – but it wasn’t really the spark Madrid were after. A clearly frustrated Ronaldo pushed Pep Guardiola as he went to retrieve the ball, much to the displeasure of the Barça fans and players. Cue the twenty-man altercation; Víctor Valdés came rushing out of his goal, and even the calmest man in world football Andrés Iniesta got involved. Eventually it cooled down, as Ronaldo walked off with a big grin on his face, ensuring he’d be roundly booed for the rest of the game.

The Portuguese winger was involved again shortly after, but he was unable to test the goalkeeper with a vicious free-kick. With Mesut Özil was nowhere to be seen, and the in form Ángel di María unable to make an impact, it was left to Ronaldo to attack on his own. Just before half-time he went down looking for a penalty, but referee Iturralde González was unimpressed and waved away his protests.

The second-half was more of the same; it just got even worse for Madrid. First David Villa was blocked by Sergio Ramos, and then Xavi could only find the side netting with his effort. But a third wasn’t far off, and sure enough it came. Messi played a perfect ball through to Villa who fired in his first of the night to make it 3-0.

The same combination made it four, Messi with yet another outstanding pass for Villa. It was embarrassing for Madrid, the olés were coming out, and Barça were in complete control. The look on Iker Casillas’ face pretty much said it all; a look of pain, despair, even shame. A face shared by the thousands of Madridistas watching on.

The battering was complete when Bojan and Jeffrén combined in the last minute to make it five. Though there was still time for a bit more action, as Sergio Ramos managed to lose his head and get himself sent off for a violent swipe on Messi and for lashing out at fellow Spanish international Carles Puyol. It was an end to a miserable night for him, and for his team, totally humiliated by their rivals. As Xabi Alonso correctly put it: “They were better in every way.”

After the game Mourinho had no complaints after suffering his first ever 5-0 loss. “It is a historically bad result for us,” he said. “It is not a humiliation but I am very disappointed. It’s sad for us.”

It’s true Madrid were dreadful, but Barça were equally scintillating, sumptuous, whatever adjective you want to come up with doesn’t really seem to do it justice. Whilst it was already in people’s mind, last night’s performance has gone a long way to confirming this as the best Barcelona team ever.

Lower down the Lowdown

• Believe it or not, there were nine other games this weekend. Juan Carlos Garrido’s Villarreal did a good job of hanging onto the coattails of the top two by beating Real Zaragoza 3-0. It was another stylish and clinical performance from the submarinos amarillos, one that keeps them five points off second place. Goals from Santi Cazorla, Nilmar and a fine strike by the returning Marcos Senna were enough for the win.
• Espanyol complemented their brilliant home form with an away win over Atlético at the Vicente Calderón. Pochettino’s young side showed great character in a thrilling game that eventually ended 3-2. They can thank one man in particular – Pablo Osvaldo. Another quality performance from him and a stunning volley to win them the game.
• Hércules got back to winning ways after suffering a heavy defeat last week. The goals came courtesy of their super strike force – Nelson Valdez and David Trezeguet. Between them they have 13 of the team’s 14 goals. Trezeguet himself has 7 goals in 11 games, and has also managed to find the net in every game at the Rico Pérez this season.
• Mallorca quietly moved up to 6th in the table after beating Manuel Pellegrini’s Málaga at home. Pierre Webo and Chori Castro got the goals for the islanders. Although they took three points, Mallorca boss Michael Laudrup admitted Málaga caused them “many problems”. Luckily they have a good goalkeeper in Dudu Aouate, who was an important figure once again.
• Getafe recovered from going a goal down away in Sevilla to win 3-1, much to the delight of under pressure manager Míchel. A goal down at half-time, whatever the manager said to his players clearly inspired them as they came out and scored three in the second-half. Manu del Moral, Miku and Pedro Ríos were the goal scorers. It was nice to see the whole team celebrating with the manager after Ríos’ goal.

Results

Zaragoza 0-3 Villarreal, Sevilla 1-3 Getafe, Atlético 2-3 Espanyol, Sporting 1-3 Real Sociedad, Racing 1-0 Deportivo, Mallorca 2-0 Málaga, Hércules 3-1 Levante, Athletic 1-0 Osasuna, Valencia, 2-1 Almería, Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid.

Goal of the Week

Marcos Senna (Zaragoza 0-3 Villarreal)

FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Spanish Primera Division