Barça’s trip to Madrid under first year manager Luis Enrique was a nightmare for both team and manager. Mistakes in tactics and his reaction in the aftermath has some Blaugrana fans concerned about the team’s future. The good news is that Barça is still in first place but the question is for how long?
Luis Enrique’s first visit to the Santiago Bernabéu as a Barça manager made for great stories. However, his past was irrelevant since he managed at this venue for Celta Vigo last season. Barça came to the Spanish capital with a four point lead and were looking to expand it to seven. Luis Enrique opted to start Mathieu over Jordi Alba and the same midfield trio of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta while giving Luis Suarez his first competitive start with Neymar and Messi.
The first El Clásico of the year started off with a bang for Barça but soon ended with a thud. It didn’t take long for Suarez’s to make his presence felt after delivering a superb pass to set up Neymar for the opening goal four minutes into the match. He also set up Messi on a great scoring chance which forced Casillas to pull off a great save to deny Messi from doubling their lead. For Blaugrana fans, there was not much left to remember from this match. Barça seemed like pedestrians out there after Madrid had a 2-1 lead that grew into a 3-1 lead.
I had expressed some reservations, or concerns if you would like, about Luis Enrique. This was his second test after that defeat to PSG and sadly, he failed this test too. Lucho’s “Plan A” has flattered to deceive and there were doubts if there actually was a genuine “Plan B”. Well, “Plan A” sputtered to create many chances and the team seemed to fade away in the second half. “Plan B” was never presented for us to reflect on. The plan of attack was for the fullbacks to attack down the wings and have the midfielders cover for them. The only problem was Lucho had the wrong personnel to put this plan into action. Xavi and Iniesta are not the same as they were back in 2008-2009 season. Lots of games and age will do that to a player’s body. Alves was not an offensive factor and only defended well when Madrid sat back while Mathieu tried his best but was abysmal in the final third of the pitch. It was asking a lot for Busquets to cover all that exposed space seeing as he is not known as a fast player and so soon after recovering from an injury.
I also addressed my concerns about the defending of this team. The clean sheet records was one of the biggest misleading statistics coming into this match. Barça kept clean sheets but their defending left much to desire. For some seasons now, Barça have been plagued with subpar defending stemming from mistakes and lack of personnel. Lucho opted to go with Pique and Mascherano as center backs, ignoring what had transpired in the last league Clásico that was played in the same venue. I had warned that Benzema was a threat, especially after he terrorized Barça last season when he scored two goals in the first half in this stadium and could have had more in that game. So it came as no surprise that he scored yet again following a mix up between Iniesta and Mascherano that resulted in a counter attack from which Benzema scored his fifth league Clásico goal at home. Pique’s clumsiness resulted in a penalty for handling the ball while sloppy defending resulted in Pepe being left unmarked during a corner kick goal.
The 3-1 loss left a bitter taste for the Blaugrana faithful. Lucho was supposed to usher in a new era but instead, we saw flashbacks to eliminations by the hands of Bayern and Atlético. Fans weren’t happy and the media was ready to pounce on Lucho. We all thought the nightmare ended in Madrid but Lucho’s press conference yesterday just prolonged it.
When confronted by the media, Lucho went on the defensive. His answers regarding Messi allegedly taking injections, Vermaelen’s recovery, and Mathieu’s statement that he was surprised to find out he was going to start as a left back, were poorly dealt. He should have dealt with those questions with calm but instead came off annoyed. This was the last thing we needed following the defeat to Real Madrid.
Personally, I had some concerns with Mathieu’s statement that he was surprised that he going to start as a left back. Lucho had mentioned before that he would inform which goalkeeper was going to start the match two hours prior to kickoff. One can hope that Lucho did do the same in a game of this magnitude. Based on what I saw from Mathieu, where he seemed to struggle to whip in a cross, did Lucho try this out in training to see how he would perform offensively? Only time will tell if Lucho is an enigma or man with a plan.
This disappointing defeat to Real Madrid meant that Barça are still in first place with a tough schedule ahead along with teams breathing down their necks. They will be hosting Celta Vigo and Sevilla and traveling to Valencia along with traveling to Amsterdam and Cyprus to face Ajax and APOEL this month. Lucho has failed his first two big tests. This month will be his third test. Will he be able to keep his team atop of the league standings and will he ensure his team will get maximum points in those two Champions League encounters for the decisive final match against PSG that will decide who will win the group?
I know it’s early into the season and I am a firm believer of it’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish. Lucho has time on his side but what he does not have, is the patience of fans that are waiting to be impressed on a consistent basis.
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