Guardiola's tactical switch swings clásico in favor of Barcelona

There are still those, remarkably, who ask whether tactics really matter, still people who persist using the Luddite insistence that the best players will win out come what may. No matter that Lionel Messi never produces his Barcelona form for Argentina or that Dani Alves regularly flounders for Brazil, Barcelona, these flat-earthers continue to say, win simply because they possess the best players.

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What happened within the Bernabeu on Saturday, surely, will disabuse them. Good players are essential, of course, but this was a game title turned on a tactical shift, a game Barcelona won because Pep Guardiola created a formation to which Jose Mourinho could not find a solution.

For that first quarter of the game, Barca was rattled. Real Madrid, slightly surprisingly starting avoid a 4-3-3 however with a 4-2-3-1, pressed solid, often a highly effective type of five bearing down on the man in possession, with just Lassana Diarra (used as a midfield anchor and not, as numerous had expected, as a back, where Fabio Coentrao fought an increasingly vain battle to prevent Andres Iniesta) left to support the rear four.

It had been the rate of that pressing, allied to an ill-conceived and ill-executed pass from Victor Valdes plus some doziness from Gerard Pique, that led to Real Madrid's opener, and in addition it prevented Barca developing anything like its usual fluency or rhythm early on. Barca's system would be a little odd, resembling less the familiar 4-3-3 having a false nine than the usual 4-4-1-1 or perhaps a 4-3-2-1. Alexis Sanchez, beginning to the left, worked across the forward line, with Lionel Messi less an incorrect nine than an orthodox 10, tucked behind him. Cesc Fabregas had what was presumably intended like a free role, but he often seemed too advanced, denying Xavi and Iniesta the easy short passing options on that they thrive.

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In those opening stages, Real looked dominant and, frankly, it seemed the title was already won, it was time for you to invoke the Three-Year Rule of the great Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann and explain how rarely the very best sides, and specially those based on intense pressing, sustain their success right into a fourth season.

But midway with the half, Guardiola made the tactical switch that turned the sport and, perhaps, the growing season. Dani Alves was pushed forward into an attacking right-sided midfield role, with Carles Puyol moving to back, a far more naturally defensive presence to stifle Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been further neutered incidentally Alves could prevent Marcelo getting toward support him. Ronaldo's contribution, while not overly significant early on, dwindled to zero next, one badly misplaced header along with a couple of unsuccessful free-kicks his only notably involvement within the other half. By the end, Mourinho had shifted him right, away from the attentions of Puyol, but at that time the sport was lost.

That meant Sergio Busquets dropping in to the back four, although he continued to come out into midfield. In turn, Xavi and Fabregas fell deeper, with Iniesta going wider left, Messi floating inside a trequartista position, and Sanchez becoming the central forward. It was the triangular interchange of Alves, so much better as an attacking wide man who makes the odd tackle than as an orthodox fullback, Sanchez and Messi that proved key in an attacking sense.

That was seen most obviously with the third goal, an excellent break begun when Pique won possession and fed Iniesta, who darted through two challenges before giving the ball to Messi. He laid it on for Alves, whose cross was ideal for Fabregas, arriving late, to score with a diving header.

The equalizer came from Messi dropping deep from any markers, obtaining possession and surging forward to tee up Sanchez. In the Super Cup, Mourinho had used Ricardo Carvalho to track the Argentine, but the fact he wasn't a false nine here coupled with Sanchez in front of him meant the 2 center backs needed to stay in place. Perhaps if Mourinho had used three holding midfielders, one of these could have tracked Messi, but he chosen the additional creator in Mesut Ozil who could facilitate our prime press -- as well as for Twenty minutes approximately, he seemed to have got it right.

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Just like essential as the Messi-Alves-Sanchez triangle was the battle between Ozil and Busquets. Looking at towards the back four gave Busquets additional time and space and allowed him to initiate moves in the way he usually does, from the intentions of Ozil. Leaving the opposing playmaker free is a gamble, obviously, but it worked here, not least because Ozil isn't a particularly quick distributor, almost an old-fashioned No. 10 who requires a second or two to consider his options. Often that capability to create calm -- what Argentines revere as "la pausa" -- within the hurly-burly of a game is an asset; here it gave Barca breathing space, and Busquets could come out and close Ozil down.

This, perhaps, may be the ultimate result of Guardiola's use of a back three this season: on Saturday, he used a back three-and-a-half, with Busquets operating partly as a center back and partly like a holding midfielder, to an extent doing what fullbacks have been doing for a long time, and using the space afforded defenders in an attacking sense. That development was logical and may be foreseen.

What's startling, though, may be the juxtaposition of Busquets' role with the events of Thursday evening, when two sides -- Universidad de Chile in winning the first leg of its Copa Sudamericana final off to Liga de Quito and Rwanda in its Cecafa Cup semifinal win over Sudan -- used a 3-1-4-2. There is, it may be added, a typical source for the reason that Guardiola and Universidad de Chile's coach Jorge Sampaoli, are generally devotees of Marcelo Bielsa.

Perhaps that's the future, revealed on three continents in the space of Two days. More prosaically, Saturday involved Barca reasserting itself, about showing it's not gone stale. Guttmann always insisted that after 3 years in a club either the manager or the players had to be eliminated to prevent staleness and complacency. Guardiola has tinkered with personnel, but more crucially, his side is still evolving tactically, which gives him options like the one he invoked on Saturday.

Van Persie in the form of his life

LONDON -- Robin van Persie is sitting alongside a Dutch journalist within an otherwise deserted cinema, watching images of himself like a young boy flickering on the big screen. He looks pensive, then smiles because he sees each goal: at 13, dribbling past three defenders and rounding the goalkeeper for Excelsior¹s youth team; at 15, much taller, scoring in a Rotterdam youth game similarly; and then, three years later, playing for that Feyenoord first team.

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As goals fly in, the comparisons are easy to make: the free-kick against Twente (December 2000), straight from the Pierre van Hooijdonk school; the back-heel turn and shot from 25 yards against AZ (February 2001) like Thierry Henry in the pomp; the dribble past Twente (February 2003) much like Lionel Messi today, and also the chest-then-volley against Ajax (February 2003) similar to Dennis Bergkamp against Argentina.

Watching these goals, included in Dutch TV documentary Heilig Gras, it seems astonishing to consider that Feyenoord ever wanted to sell Van Persie, however the goals don¹t tell the whole story. The little one who dribbled everywhere round town with a ball -- "I drove the shopkeeper crazy, because when I was paying I'd keep the ball up as well," he told Hard Gras, "and when somebody passed me I played him with the legs and continued playing" -- was arrogant, unruly and tough to handle back then.

He started the 2002 Uefa Cup final, in which Feyenoord beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2, but spent the sport trying out ideas to humiliate his opponent Evanilson, and only lasted an hour. He's since admitted he was more interested in himself compared to team and his relationship with coach Bert van Marwijk was strained (Van Marwijk has become in charge of Van Persie with the Holland team, age has mellowed each of them plus they now access it well).

Arsenal signed him for £4.5 million ($7M) in summer 2004, and each year, injuries notwithstanding, Van Persie, a thinker and, according to Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, a football obsessive, has improved his game.

Nearly seven years later, Van Persie is at the peak of his career and, almost single-handedly, leading Arsenal¹s revival after its rocky start led one British pundit to suggest it may be fighting relegation this year.

Van Persie is around the hottest scoring streak of his life: in 2011, he has scored 45 goals in 52 games, with 39 goals in 43 games for Arsenal; this year alone, 14 goals in 13 league starts.

This run coincides with Arsenal selling its two best passers over the summer, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, while its next best, Jack Wilshere, is out with a long-term injury. Which has forced Arsenal to experience a more direct attacking game, using the pace of Theo Walcott and also the trickery of Gervinho to create chances for Van Persie. "The two wingers are creating waves while Van Persie dances and plays within the splashes they make," David Winner, author of Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, told SI.com.

Van Persie is no longer scoring the glorious goals of his Feyenoord days but he is making scoring look easy, and that is something that Bergkamp, his hero and mentor for that two years they crossed at Arsenal, never managed. "Van Persie would go to where the ball will be, before anyone knows it will be there, and that¹s a mysterious gift to possess," said Winner.

"Bergkamp didn't have that, and nor did Van Basten. It jogs my memory of Gerd Muller, the way in which he checks a run, finds space, and finishes so efficiently with this perfect technique. He makes interesting runs, he still has the touch of a street player about him but his extraordinary movement is both cerebral and instinctive."

Van Persie has always had the habit of smoking of scoring important goals: his first league goal for Arsenal, in October 2004, was a last-minute equalizer against Southampton; after that first season, he would be a late substitute within the FA Cup semifinal against Blackburn, and scored two goals within the last four minutes; within the final, he took a penalty in the shootout against Man utd (after Edu had decided not to take one) and, "though I nearly blacked out I had been so nervous," scored in assisting Arsenal win its last trophy.

Last season, he scored the aim he ranks as his best ever: the equalizer as Arsenal originated from behind to beat Barcelona in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg. "It was against Barcelona, which for me has got the best squad in the past four decades," he told Heilig Gras. "It's an aspiration to measure yourself from the best and if you're the one which created the turning-point by scoring that goal, then in my experience, that's the best goal I¹ve ever scored." The next day, Van Persie was moved when a 75-year-old Arsenal fan came up to him and thanked him for providing his most breathtaking moment in soccer.

Winner is convinced that Van Persie could have reached this level two or more years back had injuries not intervened. A broken metatarsal in 2007, and ankle ligament damage in 2009, kept Van Persie out for very long spells, while repeated strains and pulls have meant he has yet to start 30 league games inside a season for Arsenal. Wenger has admitted that Arsenal would be concerned if Van Persie ended up getting injured, and the man "is on the edge [of getting injured]," so will be rotated in the next few weeks. He missed Tuesday's Carling Cup loss to Manchester City, and can sit out Tuesday's Champions League game at Olympiakos.

There is also the captaincy to consider: Van Persie's father, Bob, told Canal Plus that Robin's form is a result of the increase in responsibility since Fabregas's departure. "He's no longer just playing for himself, he's playing for that team. He is very important in creating that team now: he's leading they, not only by words but also by his actions on the field."

The Dutch journalist sitting with Van Persie in that cinema was Henk Spaan, the player's confidant and friend. "It's important to him to know that he's valued," Spaan told Mio Stadium. "Deep down he might still be an insecure figure. He's growing with his own importance."

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That could mean there is more to come from Van Persie. Free of injuries finally, we might now find out precisely how good Van Persie really is."I wouldn't yet put him within the same category as Bergkamp, who was a mysterious and profound passer with a perfect technique, but Van Persie is certainly among the best from the current generation right now," said Winner. "What he's doing at the moment is genuinely astounding."