De Jong and Busquets were time and again the elements that closed the tactical cage. Without Karim as active as he was last season, the two Barça pivots closest to Vini’s area of influence were able to lose sight of the French nine and throw themselves into the task of canceling out their teammate.
De Jong in the plan of Xavi
De Jong managed to take it to the physical and mental terrain, with that judo match in which Vinicius achieved an ippon but also the yellow card from Munuera Montero. The first yellow card of the match was for a deranged Vini …
Xavi reversed the system used by Cholo. Nahuel, much more offensive than Araújo, received support from Savic’s physique . With the herculean Araújo , the Barça idea was to surround Vinicius with smaller wasps, a sting to which Gavi also gladly joined . The first part ended with Vinicius having received five fouls. The rest of Madrid received eight… throughout the game. If we add the derby, the result draws how both games were: Vinicius suffered seven fouls, the rest of Madrid, just thirteen.