Sunday, April 3, 2016

FC Barcelona v Real Madrid, La Liga 2015-16 - Casemiro was brilliant last night


Without a doubt Barcelona were the favourites to win the El Clasico last night and why not? They were in a brilliant winning momentum and the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suraez and Neymar were proving handy for the opposing team’s defenders. Moreover, Real Madrid’s lean-patches in big matches and the inability of their famed trio,  BBC, to lift themselves up when it mattered the most, was expected to work in favour of Barcelona. But in the end, Karom Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo silenced Camp Nou to break Barca’s 39-match unbeaten winning run. Zinedine Zidane didn’t have to start his El Clasico journey as a coach like Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez.

In my opinion, Real Madrid should be grateful to two players who never let Madrid’s spirit to go down when they were found wanting at times in the midfield. Casemiro maintained a brilliant balance between defence, midfield and attack which gave Marcelo enough freedom to push himself up front and wander like a hare to challenge the Barcelona defence. And when players like Marcelo gets enough freedom to play like the way he wants, they can transform into a lethal weapon. Yes, he left spaces at the back, but those mattered little last night as he contributed in creating opportunities. 

Marcelo should be thankful to Casemiro for this freedom. 

Meanwhile, Casemiro was instrumental in keeping Lionel Messi quiet in particular as his commanding role in the deep midfield region earned him praises from the great Zidane. Players like Casemiro delivers the X-factor in that deep midfield zone which every team wants. They not only shut down the opposition’s plan to orchestrate  an attack, but in the mean time contributes in creating spaces for the attacking midfielders to initiate an attack. This guy is an asset for Real Madrid and should never be ignored from the Brazilian national team. I am quite sure, Casemiro and Lucas Lima will form a brilliant combination in the deep midfield and help to organize Brazil’s rusty midfield. 

Thank You
Faisal Caesar   

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