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#4 vs Barcelona, La Liga 2015-16
This was Zidane's first Clasico as a manager. Barcelona were flying high with a healthy lead at the top of the La Liga table and came into the game on the back of an undefeated streak of 39 games. MSN were firing all cylinders and they had won the first Clasico of the season 4-0 at Santiago Bernabeu.
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Meanwhile, Madrid were going through a tough phase as they had sacked Benitez after a torrid start to the season and appointed Zidane under whom doubts still persisted about the side. However, everything was about to change as Zidane answered all his critics.
Real Madrid started with a 4-3-3, letting Barcelona have the ball. While defending it became a 4-5-1 with Ronaldo and Bale backtracking. I repeat Ronaldo backtracking! Casemiro was deployed as a defensive midfielder and he kept Messi in his back pocket for the entire length of the game.
This was the game after which Casemiro got his fame if you remember. Zidane ensured that MSN were not able to combine with each other during the game and used the pace of Bale and Ronaldo on counters. The space on counters meant Bale had his best Clasico after the Copa Del Rey final 2014.
Even though Barcelona took the lead through Pique, Real Madrid were always in the game. Benzema equalised after a driving run from Marcelo on the counter and then Ronaldo scored the winner from a Bale cross after another counter with Real Madrid reduced to 10 men after Ramos was sent off (surprised?).
Real could have had scored 3 had it not been for referee wrongly disallowing a Gareth Bale goal. The possession stats stood at 66% for Barcelona and 34% for Real Madrid. However, still Real were able to create as many chances as Barcelona.
Zidane with his well-deployed tactics had ended the unbeaten streak of Barcelona and also ensured that the mood around Real Madrid changed for good. The biggest achievement for Zidane in this game was how he made Ronaldo defend and also that this was the first time Madrid won the Clasico with BBC starting. It showcased a lot of Zidane's qualities as a leader and as a tactician.
