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#4 Real Madrid 2-0 Barcelona (La Liga 2019-20)
Real Madrid's most recent El Clasico triumph, on the face of it, might not look like something to write home about but if you read between the lines, it definitely suggests the coming of age of this Real Madrid side under the tutelage of Zinedine Zidane.
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The match makes the list because Real Madrid got all 3 points in a match where Barcelona had a clear cut plan and meant business from the get go. Setien had conjured up a plan to silence Real Madrid but Zizou saw to it that he got the better of the Cules at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Setien decided to go with a 4-4-2 formation that had handed him his biggest wins since he took over from Ernesto Valverde. By doing this Barcelona dominated possession by crowding the midfield and playing rather narrowly.
While Arthur and Sergio Busquets played defensive midfield, De Jong and Vidal exploited the space further up the pitch. Vidal was licensed to foray into the attacking third and upset Real Madrid's defensive harmony while the Dutchman dropped to provide a further option as Barcelona played out from the back.
Zidane set his team up in 4-2-3-1 formation. Zizou wanted his players to stop Barcelona from switching the ball to the opposite flanks with ease and tasked his attackers into cutting those passing lanes.
It looked like Real Madrid were playing into Barcelona's hands as their pressing opened up spaces in midfield which Setien had specifically tasked his midfielders to exploit. Marcelo had to second guess going forward an awful lot of times as he was constantly under threat from both Vidal and Nelson Semedo.
However, for all of Barcelona's bossing of the midfield, their attacks were constantly shut down in the final third by Real Madrid. This is were Setien's plans went off the rails.
Vinicius Jr. and Federico Valverde kept tracking the runs of Barcelona's full backs relentlessly and forced them to go back. Thus Real Madrid's back four were able to focus on containing Barcelona's extremely talented forwards.
This frustrated Messi and he started dropping deep to get involved more in the proceedings. However, this was counter productive as Real Madrid could now afford to loosen up a bit at the back.
As soon as Barcelona were dispossessed, they would aggressively press the Madrid players. Zidane got his players to work around this by getting them to switch flanks to either Vinicius or Federico Valverde who maintained their positions out wide on either flank.
Whenever Valverde received the ball out wide on the right side, Benzema would drop into a midfield position and Carvajal would go on one of his overlapping runs.
This type of movement led to Real Madrid's first goal as well. This time on the left side, Benzema dropped back when Kroos had the ball, drawing Semedo on to him and leaving acres of space behind for Vinicius to run into. Kroos immediately signaled to Vinicius to take the run in behind and played a meticulous throughball into the young forward's path.
Vinicius motored into the box and beat Ter Stegen at his near post to give Real Madrid the lead. Subsequently, Mariano Diaz replaced Benzema in stoppage time and he scored a remarkable solo goal to extend the Blancos' lead and put the result beyond doubt.
Despite Setien being prepared for the game and Barcelona being able to dominate possession, Zidane's tactics helped Real Madrid upend the Cules' plans on the night and win a match that would prove to be critical in them lifting their 34th La Liga title.
#3 Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool (UEFA Champions League 2017-18 final)
Back when Jurgen Klopp's world beaters were just blooming into juggernauts, they were still as threatening as any around and were a daunting proposition for Zizou and company in the 2017-18 final. In fact, you could say that many fancied Klopp and company to put one over Zizou's Blancos.
Real Madrid, well aware of Liverpool's attacking riches, started off slow, defending deep and not allowing the likes of Mane, Firmino and Salah to flourish. However, Salah had to come off with an injury in the first half and that's when Zidane decided that his team was going to take charge.
After going 1 up thanks to a Loris Karius howler which Benzema had no qualms about making him pay for, Real Madrid found themselves in a precarious position as Mane equalized for Liverpool.
Zizou immediately brought on Gareth Bale and he turned the game on its head. The Welshman had only been on the pitch for a short time when he suspended himself 5 feet in the air and scored what is perhaps the greatest goal to have ever been scored in a Champions League final.
With Bale now going hell for leather down the right flank, Liverpool had to tighten up. However, the Welshman found space yet again, this time 30 odd yards away from goal and fancied himself with a dipper of a shot. For all the swerve on it, the ball was still headed straight to Karius who made a mess of it and edged the ball into the net.
Real Madrid did not play exceptionally well here. But it was Zidane's presence of mind and ability to read the game that enabled him to affect the game with his substitutions and it paid off and then some as the Blancos went on to lift their third Champions League title in a row.
