Barcelona suffocated Real Madrid by reaching new heights with their special tactic | OneFootball

FC Barcelona came up with an incredible 4-1 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu last night. A brace from Robert Lewandowski and goals from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal saw the Catalan club get past Los Blancos with ease.

So many Barcelona players had an incredible display against Real Madrid in an away game. Taking down the Spanish giants at their home is not everyone’s cup of tea and it was the way that Hansi Flick’s men did it that was very impressive.

One feature of Barcelona’s performances so far this season is their incredible high line, which the team uses as an additional defensive presence. Hansi Flick’s men have been catching the opposition offside on a frequent basis every game.

Against Alavés, Barcelona set a season-high by catching the Vitoria side offside eleven times. Last night, the Catalans broke their own record against Real Madrid.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona caught Real Madrid offside a record 12 times at the Santiago Bernabeu. It was perfectly illustrated in two moments when Kylian Mbappe found the back of the net twice but failed to remain onside on both occasions.

The Frenchman did not even realize that he was offside on the first occasion. Mbappe pulled out three different celebrations after chipping Inaki Pena only for the referee’s whistle to go for offside after a VAR check.

To hold a high line to such accuracy takes an incredible level of understanding among the backline. Kounde, Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, and Alejandro Balde almost always seem to be in perfect sync and step up in unison whenever needed.

Cubarsi in particular was exceptional against Real Madrid. Numbers showed that he put up a defensive masterclass against Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe and his distribution on the night was an incredible sight to behold.

With time, this offside trap is only going to keep getting better for Hansi Flick’s team. Players like Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen will have to get up to speed with this new way of defending and let’s wait and see how it plays out.