Real must overcome psychological fear of Barcelona

Staff Writer | Friday March 28, 2014 15:30

Before the El-Clasico on Sunday, no team had beaten Real in 31 games. But the Catalans came to the iconic Santiago Bernabeu and won 4-3. The victory margin flattered because it could have been worse.

After the Sunday setback, Real went to Sevilla on Wednesday and suffered a 2-1 defeat that hugely dented their previously strong title credentials.

The loss to Barca after a 31-match unbeaten run has seen Les Merengues fall from top spot to third in four days.

What more does the people in charge at the Bernabeu need to know that they must free the team from the mental yoke of imposed by Barca and Lionel Messi or Ronaldinho before him? In any case, the evidence has been there in abundance in the last decade.

The current real squad does not strike fear in Barcelona even at the Bernabeu. The fear is now with Real, both home and away and unless this changes, Barca will continue to put their rivals to the sword with increasing efficiency.

Despite their historic rivalry, the current Real players quake in their boots or commit crass fouls whenever Barcelona’s tiki-taka is rolling. The bitter truth is that the many humiliations and disappointments Real get from Barcelona all have their roots in psychology.

How else does one explain that however star-studded, Real are almost always reduced to rank amateurs in a head-to-head confrontation with Barca in recent years? A team boasting the sublime talents of Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel di Maria, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Sami Khedira and others should not play with so much fear like Real do against Barca in the Messi and Ronaldinho eras.

Even on the few occasions that the great master of mind games, Jose Mourinho, led Real to victory against Barcelona, it was always obvious that the Catalan giants were by far the better side.

The sad irony is that Real have players with the ability to do what their Barca rivals have perfected into fine art. It is baffling why against Barcelona, Real fails even in basic things like keeping possession or passing the ball for a consistent period of time.

By halftime in the El Clasico last Sunday before Real were reduced to 10-men with the red card to Ramos, the statistics were quite depressing.

The score was 2-2, but possession was 67-33 in favour of Barcelona. In such a scenario, one does not need to be the offspring of a soothsayer to know what was going to happen in the second half.

But how does a team with expensive and talented stars like Real get so comprehensively outplayed and outwitted? Add the fact that the soccer lesson was handed down by an away team and it becomes even more humiliating for Los Blancos.

It is over a decade since Real dominated and humiliated Barcelona. These days Real may win against Barca, but there would be no humiliation nor domination. Instead, the losing Barcelona side would be the one which had dictated terms despite the loss.

Real need a good psychologist for a thorough mental catharsis to believe and play Barcelona as equals and not intimidated subordinates.

Barcelona have come up against teams in reduced circumstances like Chelsea or Inter Milan and got a just hiding because the opposition was brave, passionate and played with a great conviction that Real has been lacking in recent El-Clasicos.

It is a mystery why on Sunday, Real failed to hurt Barcelona with the pace, power and killer instincts that between them, Bale, Karim Benzema, Ronaldo and Di Maria possess in abundance. Instead, Real scored two dubious goals, while all of Barcelona’s four strikes were from brilliant play and penetration. Another inexplicable Real specially in recent El-Clasicos is rough play.

This can only be a sign that the talent at the team fear their opponents so much that they resort to unorthodox means just to contain them.

Perhaps Real need the great African psychosocial scientists that can easily make grown up adults to feast on grass in broad daylight.  At a minimal fee, the scientists will definitely and successfully convince Real players that Barcelona and Messi are not superhumans from outer space.