Contrasting form of Vinicius Jr., Dembele to decide El Clasico?

By the extremity of Barcelona's past triumphant sojourn to the Santiago Bernabeu successful March, Ousmane Dembele indispensable person felt similar helium was walking connected air; the satellite astatine his feet. Vinicius Jr., successful comparison, could person been forgiven for moaning that he'd conscionable suffered a sucker-punch, that beingness had conscionable knocked him disconnected people successful beauteous brutal fashion.

Given that the 2 wingers are apt to beryllium cardinal for their respective teams arsenic El Clasico reaches Real Madrid's majestic stadium again this weekend, it's worthy looking astatine their reactions to that singular 4-0 Barcelona win, however they've played, developed and processed the interaction of specified a melodramatic nighttime successful the world's top shot match.

Back successful March, with Barcelona trying to signifier an improbable precocious rubric propulsion and looking bully to bushed lowly Eintracht Frankfurt successful the Europa League quarterfinals, Dembele was successful scintillating signifier and a determining origin against Los Blancos. Two assists to interruption the game, acknowledgment to crosses which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ronald Araujo headed home, and a bully relation successful the 3rd extremity meant that Xavi's repeated, brave but somewhat surprising, unsighted religion successful the France planetary was repaid.

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Vincius, cleanable done connected Marc-Andre ter Stegen's extremity astatine 1 signifier and mostly 1 of Madrid's livelier players, had built up to playing Barcelona -- whom he'd ripped to shreds successful a 2-1 triumph astatine Camp Nou six months earlier -- with 2 goals and 4 assists successful Madrid's erstwhile 5 LaLiga matches.

Now statesman the stark comparisons from past until present -- with Vinicius stellar, increasing successful authorization and assurance; Dembele looking predictable, sloppy and gifting the shot distant truthful overmuch that he's verging connected being a liability. The World Cup-winning Frenchman followed up with conscionable 2 assists and 2 goals successful Barcelona's remaining 11 matches -- losing to Frankfurt and watching the 12-point spread betwixt Xavi's squad and Los Blancos that nighttime successful March agelong to 13 by the clip the play finished. Deeply underwhelming.

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Vinicius? The then-21-year-old (there's 4 years betwixt these 2 mercurial, entertaining but precise antithetic wingers) showed that he's made of the "right stuff." As Madrid surged to lone their 2nd LaLiga and Champions League double successful 64 years, the kid from Sao Goncalo adjacent Rio de Janeiro, scored oregon created different 11 goals aft the Clasico debacle -- including the victor against Liverpool successful the Champions League final.

This play Dembele fluttered backmost into signifier with 2 assists and 2 goals, until a period ago. He went connected planetary work with France, played 12 minutes, picked up a insignificant musculus overload and, successful the meantime, his woman gave commencement to their archetypal child. Since past his signifier has evaporated. What's more, crossed the full play truthful acold he's lone acceptable up 1 extremity for striker Robert Lewandowski. What should person been a fertile, perchance trophy-winning, concern is, currently, arid.

Back to Madrid's antheral of the moment. In a concern wherever midfielder Casemiro has left, striker Karim Benzema has lone played doubly successful 5 weeks, the squad can't halt conceding domestically, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, retired of the blue, has been sidelined due to the fact that of backmost pain, tons of work has fallen connected this fantastic emerging superstar.

In reply to the call, Vinicius has scored oregon assisted successful each but 2 of Madrid's 12 matches this season. There's evidence, if you privation to tot up the aforementioned facts and stats, to suggest that Dembele isn't successful the close signifier to marque an interaction connected either Madrid full-back Dani Carvajal oregon Ferland Mendy -- nor to wrench the Clasico successful Barcelona's direction.

Evidence, too, that Vinicius, without the beingness of the injured Araujo, with whom Xavi has man-marked the Brazilian for the past 180 minutes of Clasico shot during which Madrid haven't scored, mightiness arguably present fto rip and nutrient a Barcelona-beating, man-of-the-match performance. But that's not needfully my cardinal point.

It's important, successful comparing the two, to spot however typical each subordinate is of the existent authorities of their respective clubs. Particularly Dembele. Xavi was without question a subordinate whose vision, talent, determination, daring and method skills soared erstwhile allied to a clever, organised, intelligent system. Yet his team, close now, are playing shot which looks devoid of system. It's a postulation of bully players, immoderate of them excellent, wherever the shot is shuttled guardant successful the anticipation that 1 of the peculiar players volition bash thing special.

Barcelona, for weeks, haven't been palmy successful producing high-quality possession shot and surely aren't playing the benignant of positional shot which Pep Guardiola introduced astatine Camp Nou and which Xavi, for astir of his astir 1 twelvemonth successful charge, has been trying to thatch the existent pupils.

Dembele is cardinal successful this. From the infinitesimal helium arrived, until now, there's been nary questioning his talent, pace, two-footed dribbling and shooting, oregon however helium tin either erupt from a lasting commencement to a startling complaint with the shot astatine his feet or, connected the run, glide past defenders arsenic if they're not there. But inquire him to beryllium consistent? To bash it crippled aft game? To apical each that disconnected with a changeless extremity supply? To beryllium ruthless? To enarthrosis work for slayer goals erstwhile the remainder of the squad are suffering? Even inquire him to explicate what's successful his caput erstwhile helium tries to trick, oregon chopped inside, the 3rd oregon 4th rival erstwhile one, oregon 2 astatine most, would person been the most-effective option? Well, articulation the queue.

Almost each of Dembele's coaches, astir fans, and astir of the media person been near successful puzzled vexation arsenic to wherefore helium doesn't make oregon improve. The Frenchman precocious told the Catalan media: "I'm left-handed but I play with some feet. These days I similar to pb with my near and sprout with my right.

"Xavi likes his wingers to beryllium precise open, and to instrumentality connected rivals 1 vs. one. Apart from Thomas Tuchel [at Dortmund], Xavi is the lone different manager I've had specified a adjacent narration with. They're some wholly upfront and honorable with you. I'm ne'er successful immoderate uncertainty astir Xavi's sentiment of me. He tells maine consecutive if helium thinks I request to enactment connected thing and is wholly wide successful his feedback connected my fittingness and whether oregon not he's including maine successful the starting lineup. He gives maine a immense magnitude of support.

"He's truly pugnacious connected america successful grooming and doesn't clasp backmost if helium thinks it's not bully enough. He talks a batch astir the value of moving hard not conscionable connected the transportation but disconnected it excessively and has told maine that, if I privation to beryllium the best, I request to people much goals, springiness assists, support a beardown intelligence cognition and beryllium wholly focused. He saw from the commencement that helium wanted maine to bash much for the team, to beryllium a much implicit player."

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Vinícius Júnior boots successful a agelong extremity for Real Madrid

Right now, whether it's a carnal dip, a nonaccomplishment of assurance oregon conscionable a bushed young antheral suffering from the interaction of having a archetypal newborn kid successful the location and slumber being a vanishing commodity, Dembele has regressed. Badly. And, similar Xavi's team, helium doesn't person exceptional, rigorous habits to autumn backmost upon.

If Dembele is disconnected form, there's thing for it but to hold until helium clicks again. It's not steadfast for Barca. The squad astir him, erstwhile steely, entertaining and formidable due to the fact that they stuck to definite demanding and important playing principles implicit and implicit again, until absorption couldn't support up, present produces ragged, make-it-up-as-we-go-along shot if their superstar players are retired of form.

Vinicius is simply a vastly antithetic lawsuit study. On arrival, and for his archetypal months, helium was wild, fun, blessed with immoderate exceptional and uncommon abilities -- but neither well-ordered mentally nor comfy wrong the scope of squad duties needed from a left-sided striker successful a 4-3-3 squad afloat of world-class, hard-nosed winners.

The opposition with Dembele being that Vinicius learned. The Brazilian listened, helium assimilated, helium worked harder, helium applied the lessons from training, from Luka Modric, from Benzema, from Casemiro. Vinicius' crippled hasn't mislaid immoderate of the intuitive, high-speed, divided 2nd method beauty, but he's harnessed each that to marque those astir him amended and to ensue that the squad wins.

It's been fantastic to ticker and, frankly, Xavi could bash a batch worse than springiness DVDs of Vinicius to mediocre aged Dembele. An distant Clasico would beryllium a cleanable clip for the Frenchman to aftermath up again and dazzle the watching world. But, astatine this distance, it looks similar Vinicius mightiness beryllium richly rewarded for the mode successful which he's been capable to blend talent, magnificent diversion speed, learning and idiosyncratic improvement towards the greater bully of Real Madrid. Sunday could good beryllium Vinicius' day.