Holding Midfield
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The latest edition of football’s greatest rivalry featured a managerial Clasico debut of Luis Enrique – a man who had his fair share of Clasico appearances for both sides as a player – but all that experience counted for little as Carlo Ancelotti outfoxed his younger counterpart. The pre-match focus was on another debut: Luis Suarez finally returning from his ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini to start as the right forward in a 4-3-3, with Jeremy Mathieu chosen over Jordi Alba at left-back and Xavi continuing in place of Ivan Rakitic. Real Madrid made two changes to the side that thrashed Liverpool: Dani Carvajal and Sergio Ramos replacing Alvaro Arbeloa and Raphael Varane in their 4-4-2. Enrique’s men had the better start, opening the scoring after just three minutes when Suarez hit a crossfield ball to Neymar to cut inside and finish on his right. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric have been a good partnership so far for Real Madrid despite neither being a natural holding player, relying on good organisation to defend, but Barcelona’s goal highlighted their defensive frailties. Lionel Messi shrugged off a weak challenge from Kroos to move the ball forward into Madrid’s half, while Neymar had […]
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