La Liga 21/22: How Xavi outsmarted Ancelotti to earn dominant El Clásico victory – tactical analysis

For the first time in La Liga history, neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona walked out in their traditional strips for El Clásico. Madrid donned their fresh black kit to commemorate the club’s 120^th anniversary while Barça were in their yellow kit carrying the colors of Senyera, the flag of the Catalan region.

Also something fans are not accustomed to is for an El Clásico showdown in mid-March to not be regarded as a potential title decider, as Barça started the day 15 points behind the league leaders Madrid, albeit with a game in hand. Barça continued their remarkable resurgence under Xavi with a resounding 4-0 victory over their rivals, ending a five-game losing streak against the Los Blancos.

This tactical analysis will break down some of the key tactics we saw in Sunday’s match at the Bernabéu.

Line-ups

Real Madrid lined up in an unorthodox 4-3-3 false 9 system with Karim Benzema ruled out with a leg injury. Thibaut Courtois started between the sticks. Dani Carvajal, Éder Militão, David Alaba and Nacho Fernández formed the back four. Casemiro started with Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde in midfield. Up front, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo played on the flanks with Luka Modrić occupying the false nine position.

The Blaugrana set-up in their traditional 4-3-3 formation. Ronald Araújo, Gerard Piqué, Eric Garcia and Jordi Alba formed the back four in front of Marc-André Ter Stegen. Sergio Busquets played in the pivot with Frenkie De Jong and Pedri as the two 8’s. Ferrán Torres, Ousmane Dembélé and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang lead the line for Xavi’s side.

Madrid’s tactical inconsistencies

Ancelotti started off with an unorthodox system which alternated between a 4-4-2/4-3-3 on the ball and a 4-4-2 off the ball to try and stop Barcelona playing through the lines. From the start, Madrid found it tough playing without a recognized center forward and their best player in Benzema.

Los Blancos set up with a box midfield during build-up, with either Valverde or Kroos joining Modrić up top. Vinícius maintained as much width as possible looking to receive the ball and cut inside. Rodrygo would frequently drift centrally towards the two 10s to add an extra body in the middle.