How Barcelona defeated Madrid (part 2)

Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova explained to Catalan newspaper El Periódico some of the key decisions that led Barcelona to win the clásico two weeks ago.



1. The line-up
2. Madrid
read more here

3. The last advices
The blaugrana players arrived fast in the dressingroom. They were frustrated with so little result for so much effort. "Keep on playing without rashing, slow everything down a little", the coaches advised them. "Don't go mad, keep a clear head", they insisted.

They analyzed the game with more distance. The players only thought about winning, but it was also a matter of not losing this game. "They asked us to stay calm, not to get obsessed and they took away our urge of the first half", said Dani Alves.

Besides the emotional notes, they needed to add a pair of tactical elaborations. "We told them that we had too many players before the ball and that a loss could be very dangerous, so they should relax, settle in their positions and then the game would come our way", was the general advice.

There also was a more specific one. For Xavi. "We recommended him that he should get away from the centre, that he he should give Messi more space, because when Leo receives a ball, several opponents close down on him and the others get more freedom."

4. The crucial change
After one hour, of play, the game got stuck. The rushing and the anxiety could reappear, although the coaches still were "convinced" that they would win the game. "With Busquets, we wanted to bring a player with a more easy touch and a quicker way of playing", Vilanova explains.

"They only had Gago and Guti in the centre", he specifies, with Palanca covering Abidal and Drenthe on the other side covering Alves. The entry of Van der Vaart to strenthen the Madrid mifdield didn't add anything. The Dutchman doesn't have the fighter's profile Madrid needed.

The arrival of Busquets was complemented with the positioning of Messi as dropped-back centre forward so he could face Cannavaro and Metzelder. Xavi was deactivated by a man-to-man marking "which is more uncomfortable for the player than for the coaches".

For a simple reason. "We have a lot of players who can make the difference and we'll always have chances to score", says Vilanova. Without Xavi and Iniesta, they indeed came. Again. And Barça is still on its way to the football heaven.


This was the second and last part of this article. You can read the first part here.