Real Madrid’s 5-1 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup wasn’t a Real marker, it was a proclamation: player for player, this is the strongest squad in the history of the game. No player on Real Madrid is irreplaceable, every player on Real Madrid is valued because they’re sensational.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still himself, but he won’t be missed in Real’s first four La Liga matches. Gareth Bale is a revelation when healthy, but he’s replaceable in the starting XI. Marco Asensio is a savage, but who knows how many minutes he’ll get this season?
Real and Barca have always and will always serve as a direct comparison for one another, that’s what entertaining the biggest rivalry in all of sport has always been about, but it’s been a long time since the comparison has looked this bleak for Barcelona.
Real Madrid’s midfield is magnificent. As Jose Mourinho said after the European Super Cup, there are simply no replicas of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Casemiro or Isco on the planet.
On the other side of things, Barcelona’s summer additions of Gerard Deulofeu and Paulinho tell you every thing you need to know about the club’s current level.
Paulinho could prove to be a great signing for Barcelona, but they absolutely need him to be. The ethos of Barca (tiki-taka!) makes you think that the gulf in midfield talent between the two sides can’t be that great, but it’s a chasm. It’s a monstrous ravine with Barca supporters trying to throw Andre Gomes down into the abyss.
You shouldn’t read too much into a glorified preseason match, but it’s all just so obvious here, and this fissure isn’t based off this season’s Super Cup alone. It’s about the back-to-back European Champions getting better while their biggest rivals take a giant step back.
At this very moment, Real Madrid are a lot better than Barcelona. It’s been a terrible summer for the Catalan club with the loss of Neymar and the addition of Deulofeu, and they need to move quickly over the next two weeks to restore their attacking trifecta, which they will.
That’s the saving grace in this whole analysis for Barcelona. Yes, they’re hugely inferior to Real Madrid at the moment, but the injection of $200 - $300 million into the squad will definitely help.
At least they’ve still got Messi — se queda.
The18 Recommends For You
