Totti said after the 5-0 great game:
"This Barcelona is unbeatable, if three teams had played yesterday against Barca they would have all lost, not only Real Madrid. The Barca players were devastating, ran less than Madrid and they controlled the ball. I think they are the best team ever."
I might agree. I have seen Brazil 1982, Italy 1982, Argentina 1986, Germany 1990, AC Milan 1989 (which also crushed Real Madrid 5-0), Brazil 1994, France 2000, MU 1999 and much more, I cannot claim that I have seen anything like Barca last week, at least in what they do best, the passing machine and the midfield.
"this wasn’t an inherently ‘tactical’ victory. Barcelona won primarily because of the cohesion and quality of the interplay in midfield. Their passing patterns in the centre of the pitch are the result of years of experience playing together, something Real couldn’t hope to match" (Zonal Marking Site)
What did numbers say?
- Barcelona had 67% possession of the ball vs. Real Madrid, that just crushed Ajax 4-0 few days earlier.
- Barcelona did 608 successful passes, vs. 245 for RM, that is 70% of all passes in the game.
- Barca had 6 kicks on the target, 5 were successful. RM had two kicks on target, zero success rate.
What was impressive is the patterns of Barca positions of players each time the ball was with them, or was not with them. They looked like the fleets of fishes, and how they shape many different patterns as they travel together.
I don't think I ever seen any strong fast midfield like Barca, and this last game was the best of their performance.
Gardiola knew very well how to employ Messi talent, which he did one of his finest games ever, despite the fact that he missed few chances and didn't score.
In Argentina, the team was so slow and distracted, they reached nowhere, Messi always had three players around him, and he was not able to pass to any player. There was no pattern at all in Argentina.
Xavi, Iniesta, Messi were no doubt the skeleton of the midfield. One great player, a core part of this Barca team is often missed by the media, Sergio Busquets. Check out this video
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