You are looking at the playground of any primary school, where match between class ‘A’ and class ‘B’ feels like it is much more important than the Champions League final. It is the true representation of ‘El Clásico’.
A cliché about these matches states that the worst player has to be the goalkeeper but, at least in Salvaterra do Miño, it did not work that way. The kid who had never played football before was set to the side, forced to play full-back in order to, as bad as it sounds, not be a nuisance.
Was it a nice thing to do? No, but playing goalkeeper was too big of a responsability and a critical position to achieve a victory that would allow you to return to class and spend the next hours bragging about what you had accomplished.
I am not sure if this situation would turn out the same way nowadays, in 2024, as football has changed and full-backs are now a critical position.
Real Madrid pulled off an epic survival performance in Manchester that relied in a magnitude of defensive strength that has rarely been achieved in the Champions League, and even less so against a team coached by Guardiola.
In spite of Valverde being awardedn the MVP of the match, the performances of Mendy and, especially, Carvajal (who did not leave anything left in the tank) were critical in order to reach the penalty shootout.
The Madrid native full-back consistently beat Grealish and Doku whenever they faced off in a duel. Even if it was harder for him to keep up as he became increasingly tired, he withstood stoically. As @Blayasensat stated on X, he performed more defensive actions than both center-backs together, winning five aerial duels and clearing the ball in seven occasions.
Mendy was also a key player for Real Madrid’s qualification to the semi-finals. Oddly enough, he was also part of the team that handed Manchester City their last defeat at Etihad in the Champions League back in November of 2018.
Ferland is a critical piece when it comes to defending the left-wing of ‘The Whites’. You can clearly tell the difference between his performance and Camavinga‘s last season in the same stadium.
But this does not only happen at Real Madrid. How did Barça get better? They improved after Koundé went back to performing at his best at the right-back position. Which mistake, aside from Araújo’s, ruined the team’s chances in the matchup against PSG? It was a lack of competitiveness from Cancelo in the defensive end, as he gave up a penalty in a harmless situation.
This tendency does not only apply to four-man lines of defense: What has been one of Atlético de Madrid‘s biggest problems this season? The horrendous performance of Nahuel Molina and the lack of offensive and defensive talent in the right-back position that has left Simeone helpless.
This is going on around the entirety of Europe: Leverkusen would not be so successful without Grimaldo and Frimpong; Guardiola’s Manchester City would not work if they did not have Walker as a defensive minded right-back and Gvardiol or Aké were not there to cover the left side; Inter Milan‘s playstyle heavily relies on the depth they get from full-backs like Dumfries or Dimarco.
We are looking at a totally different style of football. We will see how the kids at the playground figure out the positions of their classmates without making the least talented play full-backs.
Translated by Nuño Alonso.
Main image: @realmadrid.
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