To the end BarcelonaSantiago Bernabeu’s final triumphant visit in March, Ousmane Dembele must have felt like he was walking on air; the world at his feet. Vinicius Jr.in comparison, it could be forgiven for moaning that he had just received a terrible blow, that life had just knocked him down in a rather brutal fashion.
Given that the two wingers are likely to be key to their respective teams as classic reach Real Madrid’s the majestic stadium returns this weekend, it’s worth to see their reaction to it was a remarkable 4-0 win for Barcelonahow they played, developed and handled the impact of such a dramatic night in the greatest football match in the world.
Back in March, with Barcelona trying to complete a title push that is unlikely to happen late and looks good to beat lowly Eintracht Frankfurt In the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Dembele was in brilliant form and was the deciding factor against Los Blancos. Two assists to break the game, thanks to those crosses Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ronald Araujo home, and a good role in the third goal meant that Xavi’s blind faith, brave but somewhat surprising, paid off.
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Vincius, clean up Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s goals at one stage and generally one of Madrid’s livelier players, having built to play Barcelona – whom he had torn apart in a 2-1 win at Camp Nou six months earlier – with two goals and four assists in Madrid’s previous game five LaLiga matches.
Now let’s start the clear comparison from then to now – with the excellent Vinicius, growing in power and assurance; Dembele was predictable, sloppy and sent the ball so far that he was about to be held accountable. The Frenchman won the next World Cup with just two assists and two goals in Barcelona’s remaining 11 matches – losing to Frankfurt and seeing a 12-point gap between Xavi’s team and Los Blancos That night in March lasts until the 13th when the season ends. It’s so deep.
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Vinicius? At the time, the 21-year-old (with four years between these two nimble, interesting but very different wingers) showed that he was made of “the right things.” When Madrid only won a second La Liga and Champions League double for 64 years, the boy from Sao Goncalo near Rio de Janeiro, has scored or created another 11 goals after Clasico defeats – including the one against Liverpool in the Champions League final.
This season, Dembele has returned to form with two assists and two goals, up until a month ago. He went on an international mission with France, played 12 minutes, suffered from mild muscle overload, and in the meantime, his wife gave birth to their first child. Since then his form has evaporated. Moreover, in the whole season so far, he has only scored one goal for the striker Robert lewandowski. What should have been a fertile, title-winning partnership has now dried up.
Back to Madrid’s men of the moment. In a situation where the midfielder Casemiro has left, striker Karim Benzema have only played twice in five weeks, the team can’t stop conceding goals domestically, and the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtoisunexpectedly, was sidelined with back pain, a lot of responsibility fell on the shoulders of this amazing up-and-coming superstar.
In response to the call, Vinicius has either scored or assisted in all but 2 of Madrid’s 12 games this season. There is evidence, if you want to sum up the aforementioned facts and statistics, that Dembele is not in the right form to make an impact on the Madrid full-back. Dani Carvajal or Ferland Mendy – also do not twist Clasico in the direction of Barcelona.
As evidenced by Vinicius, without the presence of the injured Araujo, with whom Xavi marked the Brazilian in the final 180 minutes of Clasico the kind of football that Madrid didn’t score in, can now be said to rip off and put on a great performance, beating Barcelona. But that’s not necessarily my bottom line.
It is important, when comparing the two, to see how each player represents the current state of their respective clubs. Particularly Dembele. Xavi is without a doubt a player whose vision, talent, determination, daring skill and technique skyrocket when combined with an intelligent, organized and intelligent system. However, his team is, for now, playing unsystematic-looking football. It’s a gathering of good players, some of them excellent, where the ball is directed forward in the hope that one of the special players will do something special.
Barcelona have, for weeks, been unsuccessful in producing high quality football and certainly have not played the kind of positional football that Pep Guardiola introduced at Camp Nou and Xavi, for almost a year. authority, was trying to teach current students.
Dembele is key in this. From the moment he arrived, there is no doubting his talent, his pace, his ability to dribble and shoot with two feet, or how he can explode in the first place. to an incredible speed with the ball at your feet or, when running. , gliding past defenders as if they weren’t there. But asking him to be consistent? To do it game after game? To get through all that with a constant target supply? Cruel? Bear the responsibility for the killer goals when the whole team is in trouble? Even asking him to explain what’s on his mind when he tries to trick, or cut inside, a third or fourth opponent as one or two, is the most effective option? Yes, join the queue.
Almost all of Dembele’s coaches, most fans and most of the media have been left in confusion as to why he hasn’t grown or improved. The French player recently told the Catalan media: “I am left-handed but play with both feet. Nowadays, I prefer to dribble with my left hand and shoot with my right hand.
“Xavi likes his wingers to be very open and able to take on opponents. Except for Thomas Tuchel [at Dortmund]Xavi is the only coach I have such a close relationship with. Both are completely upfront and honest with you. I never doubted Xavi’s opinion of me. He told me directly if he thought I needed to work on something and was absolutely clear in his feedback about my fitness and whether he would include me in the starting line-up. He helps me a lot.
“He’s been really tough for us in training and doesn’t hold back if he thinks it’s not good enough. He talks a lot about the importance of working hard not only on the pitch but also off the pitch. on the pitch and told me that, if I want to be the best, I need to score more goals, create assists, stay mentally strong and be completely focused. saw that he wanted me to do more for the team, to be a more complete player.”
Now, whether it’s a physical breakdown, loss of confidence or just a young man tired of the effects of having his first child in the house and sleep becoming a vanishing commodity, Dembele has receded. Bad. And, like Xavi’s team, he doesn’t have special and demanding routines to relearn.
If Dembele isn’t in shape, there’s nothing to do but wait until he clicks back. It’s not healthy for Barca. The team around him, once tough, exciting and formidable as they always followed certain demanding and important rules of play, until the opposition couldn’t keep up, now created ragged, make-it-like-we-go games with football if their superstar players are out of shape.
Vinicius is a very different case study. When he first arrived, and in his first months, he was wild, cheerful, endowed with some special and rare abilities – but neither in good mental order nor comfortable. roof of the team’s mission range needs from a left-winger in a 4-3 -3 formation to a world-class team, tough winners.
The contrast with Dembele is what Vinicius learned. The Brazilian listens, he assimilates, he works harder, he applies lessons from coaching, from Luka Modric, from Benzema, from Casemiro. Vinicius’s game doesn’t take away from its visual, high-speed, technical beauty for a moment, but he exploits it all to make those around him better, and as a result. the winning team.
It’s great to watch and honestly, Xavi could have been a lot worse than giving Vinicius’ DVD to poor old Dembele. Let’s go Clasico would be the perfect time for the Frenchman to wake up once again and dazzle the world watching. But, at this distance, it looks like Vinicius could be well-rewarded for the way he’s been able to combine his talent, great athletic pace, learning and personal growth towards the greater good. of Real Madrid. Sunday can also be Vinicius’s day.
