Real Madrid vs Barcelona: 5 Observations About the Super Cup First Leg

This was a very exciting match and a great opening to the La Liga season. Then again, El Clasico is always exciting and intriguing.

The match ended in a draw, with two goals on either side. In the 13th minute Ozil scored for Madrid, latching onto a Benzema pass and calmly finishing.

Barcelona quickly equalized after a piece of brilliant skill from David Villa to send a long, sloping shot down ahead of Iker Casillas. Then Barcelona pulled forward as Lionel Messi evaded Khedira, Alonso and Pepe to Put it in the net.

Real Madrid then equalized as Real Madrid made a cutback from a corner, and Alonso was there to shoot home.

Playing Wide

Much of the game took place wide, with key battles in the game taking place between Ronaldo and Alves. And Sanchez and Marcelo were the fulcrum of the game.

Real Madrid's superb pressing meant that the Barcelona midfield of Thiago, Iniesta and Keita was not as effective as previously surmised. One of Mourinho's shrewd decisions was to exploit the flanks, knowing that Ronaldo could pin Alves in his own half and stop his marauding runs forward.

In fact, it was Ronaldo's run from a counter-attack which led to Xabi Alonso's goal (Ronaldo won a corner on the left). On the other side of the Madrid attack, Angel Di Maria went inside slightly, occupying the space between Abidal and Adriano.

Sanchez and Marcelo were a different story.

Marcelo slightly dominated Sanchez in the first half, when much of the good play of Barcelona came from him and Iniesta on the other side of midfield. Sanchez won Barcelona's only corners and looked to provide the incisive touch to Barcelona.

Marcelo was at times rash and was outsmarted by Sanchez. Even with all his defensive responsibility, Marcelo also supplied some of Madrid's attacking threat; he and Ronaldo combined to great effect.

Real Madrid's Cynicism and Pressing

Real Madrid obviously went out with an ingeniously engineered game plan, and it worked perfectly. The forward line and the midfield were told to press relentlessly, much like their opponents were accustomed to doing.

The Barcelona passing game rarely got going due to Real Madrid's more direct approach. It was apparent to any viewer that the ball seemed to be residing in the air quite a bit, and when it came down, it often landed at the feet of a Madrid player.

Moreover, I am not implying that this was a direct game—far from it. I am just saying that there were some extra aerial elements to it.

But we have to face facts, and the fact is, this wasn't a first choice Guardiola side. Pique, Puyol, Pedro and Xavi were missing, as well as Busquets. Nevertheless, it was an excellent job from Madrid to choke the midfield and completely restrict playmaker and Barcelona great Lio Messi, who inconspicuous until his goal had sent Sanchez through once in the second half with a brilliant pass.

Pepe and Alonso were liberally tackling Messi (perhaps chancing on Messi being poor at set pieces), and later, Pedro who was another threat for Barcelona, much more than Villa had been (his only good moment being his goal). 

Fabio Coentrao and Callejon

Coentrao is a new summer signing for Real Madrid, being a left-back for Benfica and being renowned for his attacking abilities. 

However, in the preseason friendlies that Madrid has had so far, Coentrao has played in a number of different positions, none of them being his preferred left back. This is probably because Madrid left-back Marcelo has been one of the best Champions league players at the club.

Anyways, today, Coentrao came for Khedira to act as an additional deep lying playmaker for Barcelona. However, they still had enough ball winning there. Additionally, Real Madrid youngster Callejon was placed on the wing as a replacement fro Angel Di Maria, and he looked very lively late on as Madrid threatened a lot.

Barcelona's Depth Issues?

Barcelona's lineup consisted of:

GK: Valdes (first choice)

LB: Adriano (reserve; had a poor game)

CB: Eric Abidal and Javier Mascherano (not preferred position, okay game and Mascherano made a brilliant block to deny Benzema a scoring chance)

RB: Dani Alves (okay game; was forced to stay back by Ronaldo's runs and failed to deal with his threat completely)

Midfield: Keita (holder), Thiago/Xavi (creator), Iniesta (dribbler/winger) Were Largely inconspicuous, with the exception of Iniesta, who did dribble some Madrid players and made good passes, but this midfield lacked the fluency of the Catalan lineup.

Attack: Sanchez (good game, was their main threat), Messi (created for Sanchez and had one moment of brilliance), Villa (apart from the goal, nothing much else)

Immediately after Pique and Xavi came in, they stated gaining more fluency and were settling into their passing game after Pedro was brought on by Pep Guardiola and started creating more. This is something of a premonition to the fact that the B team for Barcelona might not do it in the big matches.

Benzema/HIguain

The Frenchman was brilliant today, tirelessly creating chances with his selfless movement between the Barcelona center backs, Mascherano and Pique.

He created a lot of opportunities but failed to capitalize on any of them. Benzema is a brilliant player whose class is easily noticeable. However, when Gonzalo Higuain came on, he appeared to bring a different dimension to the game. He began dribbling people and created more chances for Madrid. 

Opinion

What you think each team did wrong and right? Did you think the result was fair? Was the referee fair? Do you think my points are correct? 

Feel free to post your opinions below.