The best possible way to beat Barcelona – Real Madrid’s point of view (Part 2)
Jose Mourinho played the Portuguese centre back as a holding midfielder. How did it help Madrid? Pepe would rush on towards any Barcelona player who had the ball in Madrid’s area. Pepe would rush towards Xavi Hernandez so he passes the ball back while he
would barge into http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 so he cannot get past the Madrid defence with his usual dribbling skills.
This way Madrid were able to hold down Barcelona in return leg of the Spanish La Liga. It was for the first time that Josep Guardiola struggled to win against Madrid. Barcelona found it really hard to get past the Madrid defence line as Pepe was standing
guard right in front of them.
Pepe acted like a wall right in front of Madrid’s back four. He was more like a fifth defender who was playing more like a holding midfielder. His http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 was not to go forward but to disrupt play and intercept everything possible. Moreover, he also acted like
a distributor of the ball with two more centre midfielders playing alongside him – either Lassana Diarra and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sami-Khedira-c32325 and Xabi Alonso.
This trick worked for Jose Mourinho because he was playing with three players in the midfield who could all tackle the ball well.
How did Mourinho win the Copa Del Rey? The Portuguese coach played a 4-3-3 formation with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 being the centre forward. Angel Di Maria and Ozil were played on the flanks while three midfielders played deep and Madrid tried to play counter attacking
tactics.
There are only a few things which trouble http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 even on their best nights. Mourinho did his homework and he found Barcelona’s weaknesses.
Mourinho saw how Barcelona players are not tall. Therefore, the Portuguese coach played a formation in which the wingers were sharp and quick. They got past their marker, crossed the ball in, in order to find the back of the net through a header. The trick
actually worked when Angel Di Maria crossed the ball in during extra time and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ronaldo-c31734 was able to score with a header.
What else did Mourinho see which troubled Barcelona? It was physical play. Due to their average short heights and a lot of passing movements, it was seen that Barcelona are not used to playing very physical games.
Mourinho told his players ‘the perfect plan.’ The plan was to barge into any Barcelona who had the ball in the midfield. Even though Barcelona would win free kicks, there is no doubt that the Catalan Giants would find it hard to score on a free kick against
Real Madrid.
This plan eventually failed when a lot of Barcelona players started to dive and won free kicks even when the Real Madrid stars were not at fault.
This was the perfect plan made by Josep Guardiola. He was frustrating Madrid’s players so that they keep playing their “rash” game. That is exactly what happened and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-c29670 was red carded in the Champions League fixture against Madrid.
Even though the Portuguese was not at fault, since the game was very physical, the referee thought that it was appropriate to give marching orders to the Portuguese defender.
After so many losses against Barcelona, Mourinho should now realize what Barcelona’s real weakness is. He should play exactly as he played with them while he was in charge of the Italian club http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan.
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