The weaknesses of Barcelona and Madrid

Barcelona

Lack of height

• Lack of height:
  Barcelona biggest downfall is their lack of height, their ability to score and concede from corners and set-pieces is obvious, having lost many points over the course of this season by conceding goals from heading.
  
• Lack of squad depth:
  It might not be such obvious but it was exposed by many teams, Barcelona youth players usually play well in matches where they are given time, however their ability to outplay a class opposition is yet to be tested.
  
  • Playing players out of position due to lack of depth - Exposed mainly by Milan when Busquets and Mascherano played as CB in the first leg, Pato exposed the positioning sense of two defensive midfielders that their instinct told them to push up and scored a goal while still creating all sort of problems until Keita was deployed as a very deep defensive midfielder in between the two CB.
    
  • Harmony of substitutions with first team players - Exposed mainly by Velencia in the Coppa Del Ray first leg. Playing a midfield of Sergio, Thiago and Cesc seemed very well composed with the ball and dominated possesion, however their inability to connect with the strikers and the defense was obvious and exposed mainly by Banega who did well to disconnect the midfield from the attack therefore controlling partial of the possession and creating a few chances.
  
  
• Messi dependence:
  Goals either created or scored by Messi consist of more than 70% of Barcelona goals this season and Barcelona might have won a good few games when Messi wasn't playing but they struggled to impose themselves as they usually do when the small elf is at his best, but when he was out of form and playing, Barcelona really struggled to create or score, as shown by Getafe, Velencia and Milan.
  
• Lack of muscle in midfield:
  A midfield trio of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta is somewhat poor when a side can keep possession when given and out-muscle you in midfield, though Busquets might be a good distributor of the ball when in possession he simply can not shield the defense in case of a fast counter attack as he lacks both pace and muscle to break out an attack.
  
• Fullback balance:
  Barcelona seem to have very attacking fullbacks, with Abidal injury is a blow in which he is great defensively and while Alves might be the perfect player to handle Ronaldo, he can not handle attacking teams who can expose him pushing further up on the counter attack.
  
• Liberty of centerbacks playing as last man.
  Very obvious when looking at recent games, exposed mainly by teams who can outrun Barcelona and put pressure on the back four; forcing long crosses in which is intercepted quite often due to Barcelona lack of height.
  
• Playing against organized defense sitting deep:
  Exposed by Milan and Inter, when a team that is capable of parking the plane parks it while sitting very deep with little to no intention of attacking (only counter-attacking when given the chance) Barcelona seem to struggle to score.
  

Madrid

• Lack of a defensive midfielder:
  Xabi and Khedira might be defensive midfielders on paper, but they are far being one on the pitch, Alonso although sits deep act more as of a play-maker than a defensive midfielder and needs a player that can cover his back. Diarra who might be the only pure defensive midfielder in Madrid is undisciplined and either get caught out of position or does something really reckless, as he is a Muntari type of player; a walking bomb.
  
• Unbalanced fullbacks:
  Same problem as Barcelona, Marcelo might be an amazing in attack, however he leaves plenty of space to be exposed; if put with a good winger, it'll only be obvious a vital for beating Madrid.
  While Arbeloa who is currently playing a RB, he is too defensive minded, therefore Madrid rely on Marcelo attacking and the left flank of the opposition is rarely tested, leaving plenty of space to attack down the left.
  
• Hotminded:
  Many of Madrid player are too temperament; Ramos, Pepe and Lass could go insane and risk a red card at any team when frustrated, and it's kind of stupid as all of them are defensive players.
  
• Arrogance:
  Most of Madrid players are arrogant, thinking they are better than the opposition and even the fans feel have a divine to the Champion League trophy, that translated on the pitch might be their biggest problem.for the people; they are not humble and respectful
  
• Player's reading of the game:
  Exposed so many times by Barcelona, Madrid squad are very young that their 'lack' of experience might force player to read the game wrongly, therefore giving plenty of chances for teams to expose.
  
• Open attacking football:
  Might be a joy to watch, but it's vulnerable to the counter as Madrid just don't have enough competent players in the midfield to cover the defense and with attacking fullbacks, they are certainly exposed by counter attacks.
  
• Pressure:
  If a team can push high up the pitch, putting enough pressure on Xabi it'll become attack vs attack, which if played against a good team gives the other team a chance to knock you out if they are able to dominate their midfield, in which their midfield becomes predicable and if the midfield can stop the ball being played to the attacking midfield and the strikers, you'll outpossess them and stop their counter attacks
  

By looking at the criteria above, the team who have the best chance of knocking Barcelona out is Milan, while the best team that has a chance of knocking Madrid out is Bayern.

Xabi missing the first leg might be crucial for Madrid.

Kudos on making this thread again.

I disagree on the Xabi statement a bit. I think this season that if Xabi gets put under any type of ecessive pressure, Ozil will drop deep to help him out and balance the workload but I see what your saying.

I also don't think arrogance is a problem for this team. Many people thought that they looked vulnerable last nightbut the job had been done and they had stepped up to a level that CSKA cold not cope with. Make no mistake that when it is a higher pressure game, he players will be fully focused.

The rest, I fully agree on.

I keep hearing on and on and on that Milan is the team with the best chance of beating Barca.
Based on what exactly.The 2 first round games where the scores were grossly mis representative of the overall play.
If we play Milan again,I am quite sure we will win comfortably.
The team that does scare me is Bayern as they have class upfront.

I would disagree with quite few of those barcelona's weaknesses but meh

alexjanosik wrote:I keep hearing on and on and on that Milan is the team with the best chance of beating Barca.
Based on what exactly.The 2 first round games where the scores were grossly mis representative of the overall play.
If we play Milan again,I am quite sure we will win comfortably.
The team that does scare me is Bayern as they have class upfront.

so a team needs to have more possession than barca to properly win against them?is this a joke?

but i agree,the scores were bs,both matches should have been 2-2 considering mr H&R made some play acting on the pen box at the san siro

Ganso wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:I keep hearing on and on and on that Milan is the team with the best chance of beating Barca.
Based on what exactly.The 2 first round games where the scores were grossly mis representative of the overall play.
If we play Milan again,I am quite sure we will win comfortably.
The team that does scare me is Bayern as they have class upfront.

so a team needs to have more possession than barca to properly win against them?is this a joke?

but i agree,the scores were bs,both matches should have been 2-2 considering mr H&R made some play acting on the pen box at the san siro

Lets just wait for the draw.I dont mind drawing Milan as I am confident we will progress comfortably against them.

Barcelona's depth is one of the best in the world. Maybe it is because they have had quite a few injures making them look they have a thin squad.

And they don't really struggle because of lack of strength or muscle. They will just pass the ball around you all night.

We have a defensive midfielder in Lass, but it never works with those two. A B2B like Khedira also has its uses. So I wouldn't really say it is a weakness.

You can't really have two very attacking fullbacks. You have to keep a balance between a very attacking one (Alves, Marcelo) and a defensive one (Abidal, Arbeloa). Marcelo never plays as a LW vs Barca anyway. Rarely goes forward compared to other games. You also have Coentrao who is solid at the back. It is Arbeloa's recent form that is worrying me.

Real Madrid's arrogance is no more than any other top team.

I will respond to this thread the same way i did last time
: :vagi:

alexjanosik wrote:

Ganso wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:I keep hearing on and on and on that Milan is the team with the best chance of beating Barca.
Based on what exactly.The 2 first round games where the scores were grossly mis representative of the overall play.
If we play Milan again,I am quite sure we will win comfortably.
The team that does scare me is Bayern as they have class upfront.

so a team needs to have more possession than barca to properly win against them?is this a joke?

but i agree,the scores were bs,both matches should have been 2-2 considering mr H&R made some play acting on the pen box at the san siro

Lets just wait for the draw.I dont mind drawing Milan as I am confident we will progress comfortably against them.

I prefer Barcelona to Madrid or Bayern next. (But I want APOEL) I think we can eliminate Barca. At San Siro it was questionable penalty and a rare own goal from Van Bommel for Barca to win. These things are bad luck which doesn't repeat usual. (Only for Inter this year LOL) Not many team can draw against Barca at the Camp Nou in the CL. We do that. Today AC Milan is stronger than 2010 Inter that eliminate Barca.

The weaknesses of both are some of their fans on this forum

"Arrogance:
Most of Madrid players are arrogant, thinking they are better than the opposition and even the fans feel have a divine to the Champion League trophy, that translated on the pitch might be their biggest problem.for the people; they are not humble and respectful"

Let's not start talking about Xavi, Pique, Alves, Valdes etc.

leemhuis wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

Ganso wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:I keep hearing on and on and on that Milan is the team with the best chance of beating Barca.
Based on what exactly.The 2 first round games where the scores were grossly mis representative of the overall play.
If we play Milan again,I am quite sure we will win comfortably.
The team that does scare me is Bayern as they have class upfront.

so a team needs to have more possession than barca to properly win against them?is this a joke?

but i agree,the scores were bs,both matches should have been 2-2 considering mr H&R made some play acting on the pen box at the san siro

Lets just wait for the draw.I dont mind drawing Milan as I am confident we will progress comfortably against them.

I prefer Barcelona to Madrid or Bayern next. (But I want APOEL) I think we can eliminate Barca. At San Siro it was questionable penalty and a rare own goal from Van Bommel for Barca to win. These things are bad luck which doesn't repeat usual. (Only for Inter this year LOL) Not many team can draw against Barca at the Camp Nou in the CL. We do that. Today AC Milan is stronger than 2010 Inter that eliminate Barca.

LOL no they aren't.

I've noticed Milan fans this year really overhype their team.

They may have a better chance of nicking a result against Barca than RM does, but I don't think they'll win the CL.

Pep only fears them because of their ability to park the bus + the Ibra factor.

_LMG_10_ wrote:

leemhuis wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

Ganso wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:I keep hearing on and on and on that Milan is the team with the best chance of beating Barca.
Based on what exactly.The 2 first round games where the scores were grossly mis representative of the overall play.
If we play Milan again,I am quite sure we will win comfortably.
The team that does scare me is Bayern as they have class upfront.

so a team needs to have more possession than barca to properly win against them?is this a joke?

but i agree,the scores were bs,both matches should have been 2-2 considering mr H&R made some play acting on the pen box at the san siro

Lets just wait for the draw.I dont mind drawing Milan as I am confident we will progress comfortably against them.

I prefer Barcelona to Madrid or Bayern next. (But I want APOEL) I think we can eliminate Barca. At San Siro it was questionable penalty and a rare own goal from Van Bommel for Barca to win. These things are bad luck which doesn't repeat usual. (Only for Inter this year LOL) Not many team can draw against Barca at the Camp Nou in the CL. We do that. Today AC Milan is stronger than 2010 Inter that eliminate Barca.

LOL no they aren't.

I've noticed Milan fans this year really overhype their team.

They may have a better chance of nicking a result against Barca than RM does, but I don't think they'll win the CL.

Pep only fears them because of their ability to park the bus + the Ibra factor.

Abate Mexes/Nesta Silva Nagatomo

Maicon Lucio Samuel Chivu


Which better?


Midfield No contest.

Attack

Ibra=Eto'o our rest are better than 2010 Inter.

ehhmm....that defense does not even come close to Inter of 2010 lol. Not on paper, not by results.

And I wouldn't call the midfield "no contest". They had sneijder. But even so, Inter's strength lies in their defense and forwards, thanks to their counter attacking style.

You also conveniently forgot Milito, who was arguably better than Eto'o, well at least in the big matches.

Guys, please don't take leemhuis seriously. Not even us Milan fans take him and that bacala Potential seriously since they both.... Tend to get carried away.

No one is hyping Milan here.

Want proof? Go check the Milan section and how we are praying to draw a small team.

So myth that Milan is being hyped by us is bullshit. Now stop.

P.S Milan don't park the bus nor are Ibra dependent.

As for Alex, he only would praises Bayern over Milan since he is a Bayern fan lol.

And leemhuis, please don't embarrass us

_LMG_10_ wrote:ehhmm....that defense does not even come close to Inter of 2010 lol. Not on paper, not by results.

And I wouldn't call the midfield "no contest". They had sneijder. But even so, Inter's strength lies in their defense and forwards, thanks to their counter attacking style.

You also conveniently forgot Milito, who was arguably better than Eto'o, well at least in the big matches.

Nesta better than Samuel or Lucio. Mexes also. Silva is stronger than any.

Attack? Ibra, Pato, Robinho, El Sharaway (Cassano) not equal to Eto'o and Milito?

Midfield, we better.

Arquitecto wrote:Guys, please don't take leemhuis seriously. Not even us Milan fans take him and that bacala Potential seriously since they both.... Tend to get carried away.

No one is hyping Milan here.

Want proof? Go check the Milan section and how we are praying to draw a small team.

So myth that Milan is being hyped by us is bullshit. Now stop.

P.S Milan don't park the bus nor are Ibra dependent.

As for Alex, he only would praises Bayern over Milan since he is a Bayern fan lol.

And leemhuis, please don't embarrass us

Do you really believe that 2010 Inter player are better than our player today?

Inter Milan 2010 is one of the most complete team I've ever seen....

leemhuis wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Guys, please don't take leemhuis seriously. Not even us Milan fans take him and that bacala Potential seriously since they both.... Tend to get carried away.

No one is hyping Milan here.

Want proof? Go check the Milan section and how we are praying to draw a small team.

So myth that Milan is being hyped by us is bullshit. Now stop.

P.S Milan don't park the bus nor are Ibra dependent.

As for Alex, he only would praises Bayern over Milan since he is a Bayern fan lol.

And leemhuis, please don't embarrass us

Do you really believe that 2010 Inter player are better than our player today?

it depends .. which player
ok kidding..

I think they had , but nevertheless , it's a whole other story.
Let's keep this discussion on topic .just made popcorn and i don't want them to get wasted because of Inter

It's not a Milan vs Inter thread .

leemhuis wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Guys, please don't take leemhuis seriously. Not even us Milan fans take him and that bacala Potential seriously since they both.... Tend to get carried away.

No one is hyping Milan here.

Want proof? Go check the Milan section and how we are praying to draw a small team.

So myth that Milan is being hyped by us is bullshit. Now stop.

P.S Milan don't park the bus nor are Ibra dependent.

As for Alex, he only would praises Bayern over Milan since he is a Bayern fan lol.

And leemhuis, please don't embarrass us

Do you really believe that 2010 Inter player are better than our player today?

One of key to 2010 Inter was Mourinho. Allegri is no where close to that level to display a tactical masterpiece like that. Nor does he have the charisma to demand such a performance from his team. Inter won because they played like a team.

StevieRayVaughan wrote:

leemhuis wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Guys, please don't take leemhuis seriously. Not even us Milan fans take him and that bacala Potential seriously since they both.... Tend to get carried away.

No one is hyping Milan here.

Want proof? Go check the Milan section and how we are praying to draw a small team.

So myth that Milan is being hyped by us is bullshit. Now stop.

P.S Milan don't park the bus nor are Ibra dependent.

As for Alex, he only would praises Bayern over Milan since he is a Bayern fan lol.

And leemhuis, please don't embarrass us

Do you really believe that 2010 Inter player are better than our player today?

One of key to 2010 Inter was Mourinho. Allegri is no where close to that level to display a tactical masterpiece like that. Nor does he have the charisma to demand such a performance from his team. Inter won because they played like a team.

Hmm...that's interesting, the part about the charisma.

Allegri has done pretty well though. He's taking over the serie A, and he gave barca a good fight over 2 matches. You're right though he probably won't reach Mourinho's heights but I like him. I like the fact that he's emotionless and doesn't get happy when Milan score...


p.s Change your sig...I don't need to see Forlan's stomach lol

I'm going to make a strengths and weaknesses of Milan thread to end this Classico-centricness.

Not perfect but not a bad effort and listing all the weaknesses of the teams.... goes show even 2 amazing teams got weaknesses, but a lot of them are really not big and important....weaknesses have been minimised more and more by both teams...