Monday, October 17, 2022 – 9:14 PM
From Ahmed Zahran.
ABU DHABI, 17th October / WAM/ The 1-3 defeat once morest Real Madrid in the “El Clasico” cast a shadow over Barcelona and shed light on some of the mistakes made by coach Xavi Hernandez..Although it is the first for the team in the Spanish Football League this season,
Real Madrid presented a distinguished show in the Clasico, in which he confirmed that the team is strongly qualified to defend its title this season because it is the most ready in light of the completion of its ranks, despite not concluding many deals in the summer of this year.
The match confirmed that the French striker Karim Benzema regained a large part of his level following being negatively affected by injury earlier this season, and the player managed to score the team’s first goal to lead it to a valuable victory.
The match also showed the clear harmony between Real Madrid players under the leadership of the great Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who dealt with the match realistically and helped him achieve the victory. season.
On the other hand, Barcelona was not at the required level in this confrontation, although it beat Real Madrid 4-0 in the same stadium in the Spanish League last season.
Xavi took over the task in difficult circumstances last season, but he supported the team with many players during the transfer period that preceded the current season, more than Real Madrid supported his ranks in the same period.
The real loss of Barcelona during the Clasico was not the result, but rather in the performance that does not rise in any way to the efforts to strengthen and rebuild the team to compete for championships locally and in Europe, knowing that the team suffers a lot in the Champions League this season, and is seriously threatened by exit from the first round ( group stage) for the European Championship.
Yesterday’s defeat in the Clasico coincided with Xavi’s 50th match since taking charge on November 6, 2021.
And the Spanish newspaper “Marca” indicated that despite the indisputable capabilities and skills of Xavi, the numbers and statistics make him in a bad position because he has become the worst record among the coaches who have been with the team for at least 50 games for a long time.
She explained that 50 matches over the course of less than one year witnessed 28 victories, 11 draws and 11 defeats for Barcelona, led by coach Xavi, who led the team in 37 matches last season and 13 this season in various tournaments.
Xavi’s record in these 50 matches is close to that provided by Dutchman Frank Rijkaard in the leadership of Barcelona, but Rijkaard remains slightly better during his first 50 games with Barcelona, while Luis Enrique is still the best record holder in his first 50 games with the team with 42 wins and 3 Draws and 5 defeats.
Josep Guardiola and Argentine Tata Martino scored 37 victories, 8 draws and 5 defeats in their first 50 matches with the team, while Dutchman Ronald Koeman, who took charge before Xavi, scored 33 victories, 7 draws and 10 defeats in his first 50 matches with the team.
And the Spanish newspaper indicated that what mitigates the bad results of the team with Xavi, is that the former Spanish star took charge months following the departure of Argentine Lionel Messi from the team.
And the Spanish media indicate that the mistakes made by Xavi in his selection of the squad contribute the largest role in these poor results.
For example, Xavi is still insisting on pushing the player Sergio Busquets despite the apparent decline in his level during the past weeks, and the first goal revealed Busquets’ lack of speed and strength, which helped Toni Kroos pass to make the goal, and Busquets also made a mistake in positioning that contributed to Valverde’s score. The second goal, and Barcelona’s performance did not improve until Busquets left in the 60th minute.
Xavi also kept the talented player Jaffe on the bench until the 60th minute of the match, although he is the most ready physically, which was shown by the improvement in performance following the player came as a substitute.
Also, Barcelona’s danger began to appear following the arrival of strikers Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, but time did not help them to adjust the result, even if Torres scored the goal to save Barcelona’s face.
Apart from the Clasico match, the ninth round of the Spanish League this week witnessed more than a distinguished number, led by the 1-1 equalizer, which Cristian Stuani scored for Girona once morest Cadiz, as it became the most delayed equalizing goal in any La Liga match, as it came in the 12th minute From overtime to meet.
Awad Mokhtar/ Ahmed Zahran/ Zakaria Mohieldin
