Real Madrid’s dominance in El Clásico continues. Xavi and Piqué complained: They played only on breaks, we were better

The semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup between Real Madrid and Barcelona was dominated by Ancelotti’s team. Los Blancos have won five consecutive El Clásico matches and have not been defeated six times. Madrid’s dominance continues, but Piqué and Xavi were very upset after the match.

Real Madrid started the match more actively, taking advantage of the space behind the defence that Barcelona offered them. The deadly breaks pulled by Vinícius, Benzema and Asensio could have easily culminated in three goals in the first thirty minutes. The score was 1: 0 thanks to a beautiful goal by Vinícius Junior.

But after that Los Blancos were content with the lead and stopped playing, so the Catalans took over the game. They also equalised in the 41st minute after a lucky goal by de Jong, who was hit by Militao on the rebound and the ball deflected into the net.

Barcelona had the better of the start of the second half, but every time the Merengues went on the attack it threatened danger. After one such action down the left, Benzema got to the ball and gave Real the lead back.

Culés didn’t give up though and in the 83rd minute, Ansu Fati equalised with a header after a centre. The match went into extra time. Real were the more successful in this one, with Valverde scoring in the 98th minute after a lightning-fast and incredibly well played counter.

After that, Real logically waited for the opponent deeper, let Barcelona play and could have easily scored three more goals from other breakout situations.

This is what Barcelona icons, stopper Gerard Piqué and coach Xavi, complained about after the game.

“They only won the game with breakaways. We kept the ball a lot more,” Piqué complained in a post-match interview. The match statistics, which show 53%-47% ball possession, do not entirely match his opinion.

“We were better than Real Madrid. We are angry and disappointed. We controlled Real Madrid, who were just waiting in their own penalty area,” Xavi told reporters.

But Los Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti has the opposite view, saying it was by design.

“Barcelona did not dominate against us. We just went deeper to enjoy the breakaway situations we had plenty of space for. We tried two different styles in the game. The block may not be aesthetic, but when it works for us…,” Ancelotti showed his point of view.

Source: El Chirinquito