They formed a four-man wall. They had a defender lie prone behind the wall to block a low shot. They dropped another defender to the goal-line to clear any effort at the near post. They had Czech international Tomáš Vaclík between the sticks.
It didn’t matter.
Lionel Messi’s first goal of the 2019-20 season flew in from 23 yards out, avoiding it all with astonishing ease.
Barcelona moved into second in LaLiga — two points behind leaders Real Madrid — with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Sevilla at the Camp Nou on Sunday. Barça raced to a three-goal halftime lead thanks to a stunning overhead kick from Luis Suárez followed by further strikes from Arturo Vidal and Ousmane Dembélé. Lionel Messi finished the scoring with a sublime free kick in the 78th minute.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was pulled at halftime from Real Madrid’s Champions League match with Club Brugge on Tuesday, an indication of either sickness, injury or ineptitude.
Lionel Messi has had his struggles this season, having picked up an injury before the campaign and another after it had started in September.
Consider Messi back in full form now after a magical run to set up Barcelona’s winner in a 2-1 comeback over Inter Milan in Champions League Group F on Wednesday at the Camp Nou.
Club Brugge came within five minutes of recording a historic upset of 13-time European champion Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday, but the Belgian side ultimately had to settle for a 2-2 draw after a late equalizer from Casemiro.
Regardless, the story of the game will be the first-half brace scored by Club Brugge’s Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis.
This was not a Madrid Derby to remember. Players like João Félix, Eden Hazard and Kieran Trippier received their first taste of the capital-city clasico, but none were able to make much of an imprint in a 0-0 draw between Real and Atlético Madrid on Saturday at the Wanda.
Atleti keeper Jan Oblak was probably the best player on the pitch, making a couple great saves on Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema. But Real Madrid’s offensive forays were summed up most appropriately by an effort from Gareth Bale in the 57th minute.
Martin Ødegaard has flown under the radar over the past few seasons. The Norwegian midfielder was the talk of the town in 2014 after being signed by Real Madrid at just 16 years old but has since been loaned out to two different teams in the Eredivisie and deemed irrelevant to many Madrid fans, who see Dani Ceballos, Vinícius Jr and Rodrygo as the future of the club.
FC Barcelona players arrived at the club’s Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training center this morning only to find the doors locked and a piece of paper taped to the entrance reading: “El fin.”
Vinícius Jr’s transition to Real Madrid has by no means been easy. The young Brazilian joined Madrid from Fluminense for $50 million in 2017, making him the second-most expensive transfer from Brazil behind only Neymar. Unlike Neymar, Vinícius Jr has not found immediate success in LaLiga.
Vinicius, while showing incredible dribbling ability and ball control, has lacked the final product of his Brazilian compatriot, scoring just one goal in LaLiga in his first season at Real Madrid compared to Neymar’s nine goals.
Zinedine Zidane handed 26-year-old goalkeeper Alphonse Areola his first Real Madrid start in Wednesday’s LaLiga match against Osasuna at the Bernabeu.
Areola made 75 appearances with Paris Saint-Germain before joining Los Blancos on loan (Real sold Keylor Navas to PSG).