But while Mourinho got his tactics right, Pep Guardiola got them wrong. Mourinho chose to stick with the same team that had lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich in Germany on Tuesday night, while Guardiola made two changes, replacing Cesc Fabregas with Thiago, and Alexis Sanchez with Cristian Tello.
It was a surprise to see Fabregas and Sanchez on the bench, but it was the way Barcelona lined up that was even more surprising. Carlos Puyol began the match at rightback, with Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets making an unlikely centreback partnership, while Adriano started at leftback. Xavi, Thiago and Andres Iniesta made up the midfield, while Dani Alves and Tello joined Messi in a front three.
It was an odd formation, and without Gerard Pique in central defence, Mascherano was the only Barcelona player over 6ft. And it just didn’t work for Barcelona. Although Alves is one of the great attacking fullbacks in world football, he was never able to make much of an impression in a more advanced role, and Real Madrid regularly crowded Messi out of possession. Cristian Tello is just 20 years old, and has only broken into the Barcelona team this season, and he lacked composure when presented with some of the best chances Barcelona created on the night. Their lack of height in defence was exposed when they failed to deal with a Real Madrid corner which allowed Khedira to open the scoring.
Getting it wrong tactically is something that has rarely been an issue for Pep Guardiola, as his Barcelona side have won trophy after trophy during his four seasons at the club. But he was curiously slow to change things on Saturday, waiting until the 69th minute to make his first substitution, and failing to change a system that wasn’t working. It leaves Barcelona as a team suddenly under pressure, with the La Liga title slipping from their grasp, and a 1-0 deficit to overcome in the Champions League, after their defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Guardiola’s job is under no threat, but for the first time in his managerial career he faces the possibility of a season without a major trophy. Their clash with Chelsea just became even more important.
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You haven’t told us what this tactical error was…