Spanish SuperCopa Second Leg: Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona

What a difference a player can make.
I am under no doubt whatsoever that we would have won this match with Dani Alves.We were done in time and time again by the diagonal ball.Alves would have dealt with them and he would also have owned Ronaldo and bossed the right flank.
Perhaps in hindsight,it would have been better to start Adriano on the left and Montoya on the right but thats easy to say now.
Our defense was a joke throughout the match.I dont agree that Masch imrpoved in the second half.He was just as bad.Its just that our midfield play improved immensely after going a man down and Masch didnt have to deal with as much.

Horrific blunder on the first goal but even aprt from that he was poor. It was the same old problem.He goes searching for the ball leaving huge gaps in defense.I counted atleast 3 times when he was caught in no man's land up the field.Consequently leaving a huge hole down the center of the defense.Left Pique with too much to do at such times.He is a ball chaser and that wont even change.Masch simply isnt a CB and dont think he will ever become a proper one.We are gambling heavily by depending on him this season.
Pique was at fault for the second leg.He made 2 mistakes.He should have claered the ball initially but got schooled by Ronaldo.After that he should have gone and blocked the shot.Instead he stupidly ran to the goal thereby leaving Ronaldo a free shot.The game also reiterated that he cant lead a backline yet.
Valdes too was at fault for the second goal.That is a routine stop and any first division keeper in any major league should stop that.It was a simple stop and he should have stopped it.He needs to step up.
Alba was poor positionally.Got caught out a lot of times.Still early days.
I dont agree with the criticism of Busquets.What the hell is he supposed to do with a schoolboy defense behind him?
Alexis was just atrocious and he really needs to stop with the diving.Its embarassing.
Pedro was again immense.Full of drive,tenacity,skill and running.
I thought Messi was the best player on the pitch.Definitely his best game of the season.Came into his own after we went a goal down.Dragged the team back into the game and showed leadership qualities and character.
Helped out in midfield to keep possession and also managed to create upfront.
Still not dribbling as much as he normally does but thats probably because he is not upto full fitness yet.
An excellent freekick to put us back in the tie.Intricate play in the middle and a couple of outrageous throughballs from midfield to set up the 2 fullbacks,Alba and Montoya.His passing is just from another planet right now.An excellent performance from the little man.Full of character.
Our midfield maestros didnt have a great game but improved significantly in the second half.
Tello was poor after coming on.It shows why we need to keep Afellay.Tello is too one dimensional and inconsistent right now.Afellay would have been a better option from the bench.
Overall extremely pleased with our performance with 10 men.We outplayed them with 10 men and had around 5 clear chances to equalize.It must drive them crazy that even against 10 men they cant run the game in midfield.

We need a proper CB

I just got done with the game (I know I've been saying this quite a bit, but with football going on, I'm watching everything delayed ), and first of all, wonderful comments from Alex. Pretty much spot on in my opinion and I don't really have a whole lot to add now that he's said everything so well. Fantastic comments.

Tonight showed how much Dani Alves means to this team. People will talk about the Xavi's and the Iniesta's and the Messi's, but although everyone can agree that he's the best RB in the world, he still doesn't get enough credit probably. I'm going out on a limb here, but he may just be the best right back of all time. His performances the last couple years have been ridiculously good, and tonight showed how much we miss him, especially compared to the performance of Adriano.

Mascherano is never going to be a world class CB. He will always just be a good CB. Great player- good centerback. He's fine against the mid table sides and the relegation fodder, and even the better sides in La Liga if we have good possession and take our chances and make it easy for him, but against top sides he has been found out again and again and again. He doesn't have what it takes, his partnership with Pique was laughable not only for the first half hour, but the whole match. Just awful. From both players, not just Mascherano. Masch takes the blame for an awful error for the first goal, but the second was also bad from Pique.

As Windkick sayed, we need a very good, proper CB, and I think Tito might be regretting not doing so in the market if this game is any indication of our season ahead.

I don't know what to say about Valdes. On one hand, he probably cost Barca the tie with that awful error, and then probably should have saved the second goal. On the other, he was tested many times by Madrid tonight and had it not been for some amazing saves, it could have been 5 goals easily for Madrid. And that's probably what our defense deserved. I think he performed well given the defense ahead of him, but it shows that he's still as error-prone sometimes as he is simply brilliant.

I think Busquets could have done more, but I agree with Alex that I don't think he was that bad. I thought he did well, and the problem consisted further back than Busquets. Perhaps you can attribute that partially to Busquets, but I think that's harsh. They're two goals came from long balls after all.

Pedro was fantastic, Alexis was...embarrassing.

Montoya did well, probably could have scored late on, but defensively he was quite solid and much better than Adriano.

Song came on with not much time but looked clueless, yeah- expected coming from me, but true. Did have an exquisite touch and pass for Messi though.

Messi was very good. Brilliant free kick and some fantastic passes, was the most threatening Barca player out there.

In the end, this performance certainly showed some of our weaknesses, but ignoring the first 30 awful minutes, we still played well. With 10 men on the field I'd say for 60 minutes of the game, we were the better team. I think this performance, while a bit of a disappointing result, is a good result because it shows where we need to improve our game, and I feel confident about going up against Madrid this year in La Liga. I think we are still clearly the better side.

I think if we have Dani Alves, find some sort of solution at the back, our midfield trio plays better, and we keep 11 men then we will dominate the fixture in the future no problem.

Shoot, I had more to say than I thought.

Also, if we needed an extra goal....why bring in Song instead of Cex or Villa? I didn't get that

I think we might have to consider this being Valdes's last year with the team. Or at least I would if I was in charge. I would let him finish out the year, out of respect and maybe to see if he can turn it around. But we can't be a world class elite club with Valdes as our keeper. We can do better than that.

And the DM used as CB idea, I get it. I get that they want players that are also playmakers and can move to different positions when needed....but having a PURE CB is allot different than converting a DM to a CB.

We need to improve asap. 2 games we looked like complete shit now back to back

Well let's not knee-jerk here, Valdes made a mistake in the first leg and probably should have saved that second goal, but he's still the keeper I'd rather have at Barca than any other keeper.

Ronaldo and Messi can't shake hands at the end of the match???

watch this >>> http://is.gd/5bm5NP

CBarca wrote:Well let's not knee-jerk here, Valdes made a mistake in the first leg and probably should have saved that second goal, but he's still the keeper I'd rather have at Barca than any other keeper.

well, considering we lost the Cup on one goal difference, and he gave up 2 goals that were savable (that Di Maria goal was so retarded)..I will knee jerk and say he isn't reliable anymore. We could easily be holding the cup, instead we aren't. We could of gone to the Bernabeu 3-1, not 3-2.

I think it's time we start scouting for a future replacement. He isn't bad, just not elite. We are an elite club and we can't afford to be in big match after big match wondering if Valdes can get it done or not. He has served us well, but that does not mean we have to stick with him.

Matter of fact he used to be allot worse. Then he got pretty good (could it be because our possession went up and he had less work to do and get exposed?) but last 2 years or so he is starting to look un-reliable again. He will be 31 next year, it's not like he is going to improve from here on out, if anything he might continue to decline since it seems he already hit his peak a few years back

yoonie wrote:Ronaldo and Messi can't shake hands at the end of the match???

watch this >>> http://is.gd/5bm5NP

is that real? it looks oddly fake

what a disaster...
I am proud of our presence with 10 men on the second half but I can never forgive the laziness of them to step in the field in the first place.
We were simply hypnotized for the first 30 minutes or so. The defence was terrible and Madrid could have easily ridicule us if Higuain was a clinical finisher.

On other stuff, I'm done with Sanchez. We need to clone Pedro or something. By the way is Tito ever planning to bring Villa back?

Finally, can someone tell me whay Alvez didn't play? I believe that with him in the starting 11 the outcome would bevery different

Brady2Moss wrote:

eelir wrote:

Brady2Moss wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Players that can lift their head high after today: Valdes, Montoya, Pedro... anyone else?

Valdes was just bad, but that is expected of him. If that guy wasn't Catalan, he would've been sent packing long ago. But because he is, Barca fans have to endure...

Did you watch the second leg?

Yeah, I did. Did you?

Oh Great we have Brady back and posting crap like usual...

alexjanosik wrote:What a difference a player can make.
I am under no doubt whatsoever that we would have won this match with Dani Alves.We were done in time and time again by the diagonal ball.Alves would have dealt with them and he would also have owned Ronaldo and bossed the right flank.
Perhaps in hindsight,it would have been better to start Adriano on the left and Montoya on the right but thats easy to say now.
Our defense was a joke throughout the match.I dont agree that Masch imrpoved in the second half.He was just as bad.Its just that our midfield play improved immensely after going a man down and Masch didnt have to deal with as much.

Horrific blunder on the first goal but even aprt from that he was poor. It was the same old problem.He goes searching for the ball leaving huge gaps in defense.I counted atleast 3 times when he was caught in no man's land up the field.Consequently leaving a huge hole down the center of the defense.Left Pique with too much to do at such times.He is a ball chaser and that wont even change.Masch simply isnt a CB and dont think he will ever become a proper one.We are gambling heavily by depending on him this season.
Pique was at fault for the second leg.He made 2 mistakes.He should have claered the ball initially but got schooled by Ronaldo.After that he should have gone and blocked the shot.Instead he stupidly ran to the goal thereby leaving Ronaldo a free shot.The game also reiterated that he cant lead a backline yet.
Valdes too was at fault for the second goal.That is a routine stop and any first division keeper in any major league should stop that.It was a simple stop and he should have stopped it.He needs to step up.
Alba was poor positionally.Got caught out a lot of times.Still early days.
I dont agree with the criticism of Busquets.What the hell is he supposed to do with a schoolboy defense behind him?
Alexis was just atrocious and he really needs to stop with the diving.Its embarassing.
Pedro was again immense.Full of drive,tenacity,skill and running.
I thought Messi was the best player on the pitch.Definitely his best game of the season.Came into his own after we went a goal down.Dragged the team back into the game and showed leadership qualities and character.
Helped out in midfield to keep possession and also managed to create upfront.
Still not dribbling as much as he normally does but thats probably because he is not upto full fitness yet.
An excellent freekick to put us back in the tie.Intricate play in the middle and a couple of outrageous throughballs from midfield to set up the 2 fullbacks,Alba and Montoya.His passing is just from another planet right now.An excellent performance from the little man.Full of character.
Our midfield maestros didnt have a great game but improved significantly in the second half.
Tello was poor after coming on.It shows why we need to keep Afellay.Tello is too one dimensional and inconsistent right now.Afellay would have been a better option from the bench.
Overall extremely pleased with our performance with 10 men.We outplayed them with 10 men and had around 5 clear chances to equalize.It must drive them crazy that even against 10 men they cant run the game in midfield.

. People reckon your harsh though your comments are spot on.
Valdes did save us at times though like you said, any 1st divison keeper should have stoppe that though saying that Pique should have been back and pressuring Ronaldo rather than staying in goals. Mascherano is only a starter against average teams, thats all. He is constantly making too many mistakes at the back. His positioning is terrible and always gets the offside trap wrong. ALL THE TIME! Pique shows signs of last season from this game... We should have got a centreback and tbh Agger could have been that option and he would have considered a bid if we offer one but no instead we got Song... I understand the strategy of placing Adriano on the right as he has played there at times and well Montoya hasn't shown promising signs throughout Olympics and preseason and still hasn't got the first team experience to face Madrid though Adriano was no Alves. The midfield seem to function better with Alves in the team. If 11 v 11, we could have won that game. Sanchez was horrible again. Can't dribble, passing is inaccurate, dives. The bloke has skills of an 11 year old Arsenal flop. We really should keep Afellay as I would definately take him instead of Sanchez any day. Tello came on and did nothing. Villa needs to start more often until Sanchez learns to actual dribble... Pedro and Messi were our two best players.
Im disappionted and I really hope we can now focus on the league and hope that injuries don't hit us especially at the back.

The criticism on Valdes is ridiculous. He could have saved Cipriano's goal, but the truth is that it wasn't even a mistake. It happens every week that a striker scores a one on one shooting it quite baldly and rebounding on the GK. Saving one on ones it's that difficult for GK.



I mean, it's ridiculous. Bash Pique for not clearing an easy ball that the CB in my football team have the balls scratched of clearing every game.

What happened to Pique?!?In the 09-10 season he was definetely one of the best 3 centre-backs in the world.If he keeps up these performances he wont be in the top 30.Got schooled by Ronaldo then when Ronaldo didnt control the ball very well he stood on the goal line when he should of tried to block the shot.I cant be too harsh on Masch as he isnt even a centre-back,we turned him into one.Also what were you guys saying about Masch not being able to play DM because his passing is poor....he made two exceptional long passes to Pedro in both legs.

Who in their right mind really expects Pique to man mark Ronaldo on a freaking island with space around him on every side.

Mascherano is supposed to provide cover in these situations, where was he, I don't even think he was in the frame.

CBarca wrote:Well let's not knee-jerk here, Valdes made a mistake in the first leg and probably should have saved that second goal, but he's still the keeper I'd rather have at Barca than any other keeper.

It's not a knee-jerk, Valdes has been truly awful for years, but it's just because he's catalan, thus the reason he's still on the roster. For instance, look what happened last season in the CL.

Against Milan 2nd leg: Milan scores with their only shot of the game. That shot could have been saved had Valdes bothered to spread himself. But no, he just closes his eyes and hopes for the best.

Against Chelsea: Chelsea scores with their only shot of the game at Stamford.

Against Chelsea 2nd leg: Chelsea scores with only 2 shots at goal.
Ridiculous.

I could go on but you get my point. It seems everyone who breaks through the barcas defence barriers is 99% likely to score. Do you know the reason why Madrid has been getting closer to Barca these past few years? It's because of Casillas. He kept them in the game last night with some brilliant one on one saves (Pedro, Montoya). Unlike Valdes who was only let off the hook because Higauin is such a wasteful striker.

I'm pretty sure this is not the last will be talking about Valdes incompetence, especially now that Barca got no quality CB in their team. Seriously what is the manager thinking buying Song instead of a decent CB? Now Valdes weaknesses will be exposed, and everyone will see him for what he really is. A second rate gk punching above his weight.

Imagine what Barca would be with Casillas in goal?

Listen, I'm catalan and I'm starting to get mad at you saying that this or that player is only in our roster because "he is catalan" stuff. It's offensive and not acceptable from a Barça fan.

Stop it.

All your post above me is a joke.

I could go on but you get my point. It seems everyone who breaks through the barcas defence barriers is 99% likely to score. Do you know the reason why Madrid has been getting closer to Barca these past few years? It's because of Casillas. He kept them in the game last night with some brilliant one on one saves (Pedro, Montoya).

That awkward moment when you say cite Casillas's saves as the reason Madrid is closer to Barca when Valdes made 3-4 more goal stopping saves.

And Free he's not a Barca fan, he's a a joke and a troll.

TBF although he cost you the game with the mistake in the first leg, it's still Supercopa.......

It's not really a big deal.

If he makes the Spain Squad ahead of De Gea again though

Pathetic performance by a team. I think this team lack humility, concentration and killer instinct. They went to the game with a mindset 'eah, we will win this cup easily, we are the best' and they embarassed themself. Attitude is crap. Pathetic perfromance by Adriano (did he ever play good game as RB for us), Masch and Pique also were piss poor. Valdes was OK, but he should have saved 2nd goal. Didn't make up for his mistake in first leg (Di Maria goal cost us a tie). Good game by Messi, Pedro and Alba, Song and Montoya also can keep their heads up. Busquets, Xavi were poor.

If team doesn't improve mentally and play with more motivation, we won't win anything. They must stop thinking that they are the best in the world, otherwise this season will be exactly like last season. Madrid have mental edge now and better attitude before the game. They want to win by all cost, Barca go into the match thinking that it's easy and we will win. The same attitude cost us a lot of points in LL last season.

Marti Perarnau said it best in hist article post 2nd leg of Supercopa - "I think that Barca has superiority syndrom. Barca still thinks they are better than Real Madrid, but Barca is not better anymore. Barca is better in some aspects of the game (and worse in other) and still stands high in hierarchy due to 14 titles won under Guardiola, but you can't see anymore big distance between both clubs, despite that their styles are so different. Barca can be better only if Barca accept and admit before themselves that they are not better anymore than Madrid".

Excellent post Matpol.

While the players should be allowed to have a bad game once in a while, they completely stepped off the gas in the first half of the second leg. I hope they realize what Marti Perarnau said and go into the games with a much better mentality. That is the only way Barcelona can keep up with the Madrid strike force.

I agree.I think at the top of our game,we are still clearly superior to them.We showed that by dominating them for 60 min with a man down.
Problem is we seem to be starting slow in these games,most probably due to the lack of intensity mentioned.That coupled with our shaky defense makes things difficult for us early on.We only start playing after going a goal down.
Full intensity,at our best we can still outplay them easily.

Dude 2nd half, 60 min with player down. if i disregard the firs 30 min i cant be any prouder of our team.

windkick wrote:

yoonie wrote:Ronaldo and Messi can't shake hands at the end of the match???

watch this >>> http://is.gd/5bm5NP

is that real? it looks oddly fake

I don't know. just saw this to a post in my news feeds. Seems legit to me.