Where should I even begin?  What an incredibly wild ride that Barcelona and Real Madrid took us on this past Sunday afternoon!  Despite the decisive and deceiving 3-1 scoreline, Spain’s leg 1 of this year’s Super Cup was epic!  We all had an inkling that this edition of the Supercopa would be special, given its an El Clasico, but the first match left us all on the edge of our seats with dropped jaws. All the while, scratching our heads as to what exactly took place once the final whistle blew.  

Heading into the game, the talk for Barcelona was centered around the atomic sized crater on the left wing of Barca’s front three, after the defection of Neymar Jr.  I was cautiously optimistic when I saw that Gerard Deulofeu was given the nod to start by new Manager Ernesto Valverde.  The young Spaniard that graduated from Barca’s famed La Masia and captained Spain’s U-23 Euro squad, was bought back from Everton over the summer.  He began to flourish last season while on loan at AC Milan, and continued to grow during the Euros.  With that said, Deulofeu, was considered to be a cheap and youthful addition to round out the squad.  As we know things changed with the line-up.  Thus, he was thrust into the starting lineup on Sunday and unfortunately he did disappoint.  But, I suppose anyone and everyone that was to be chosen to start the first match of the post-Neymar era would in fact disappoint.  However, Deulofeu performed even worse than what I, fans, and pundits had truly expected from him.  Time and time again the left winger made the wrong decision with the ball at his feet.  When he should’ve dribbled in towards goal, he pulled back and waited for teammates to link up to.  When Gerard should have taken a wide open shot inside Real’s box, he, instead, took a couple of touches, waited for the defenders to approach and then fired the ball low across goal.  An ill-fated attempted that neither reached the back of goal nor connected with a lunging Leo Messi in front of net.  The list goes on, and ultimately Denis Suarez subbed him off just before the hour mark.

The poor form didn’t stop with Deulofeu, though, as things weren’t rosy at the back for La Azulgrana either.  Surprisingly, Aleix Vidal was given the start at right back over newly acquired Nelson Semedo.  I don’t know if Valverde didn’t want to throw fresh meat into a lion’s den, as this match would have been Semedo’s first official match for Barca or what, but choosing Vidal was clearly a mistake.  Vidal was overmatched by Real’s attacking threat, particularly by Isco and Bale.  It was clear that Semedo, the young former Benefica ‘back with superior defensive and comparable offensive skills, should have gotten the start. 

Next up, for roasting is Gerard Pique.  Pique, who is one of the top center-backs in world football, had a night to forget.  He produced an own goal to give Real Madrid a 1-0 lead.  Then, he neither slowed down, stopped or altered Ronaldo’s long range effort, which made the game 2-1 in favor of Los Blancos.  And lastly, he had a groundhog day moment minutes later as Asensio shot a goalazo past him and Ter Stegen to put the capper on a 3-1 Real Madrid victory on Camp Nou soil. This match will go down as one of the absolute worst performances of Pique’s glittering career.

Despite all of these errors and poor performances from various Barcelona players, La Blaugrana actually had the bulk of the possession.  They controlled much of the match and really should have scored on several occasions (e.x. Busquets shooting from point blank range). Ultimately,  it was not having Neymar there that was the disconnect.  You could see the frustration oozing out of Luis Suarez, as Deulofeu and others couldn’t find Suarez the ball in opportune moments.  In addition, that frustration and lack of trust that Suarez had towards Deulofeu resulted in the Uruguayan striker cutting against the grain and into four Real players on the counter in an effort to get Messi the ball.  Whereas, instead, Suarez could have easily set up a wide open Deulofeu on the left hand side of the pitch for a one-on-one with the Keylor Navas.

In the end, this match should have been closer than a 3-1 scoreline, particularly when you consider that Madrid scored its last goal shorthanded as the club finished the game with ten men, thanks to Cristiano and his temper.  Ultimately though, leg 1 summed up the gulf that’s between these two rivals at the moment.  Real is humming along as the club is riding a wave of back-to-back Champions League triumphs, as their deadly shooting accuracy is something out of an Antonio Banderas film.  Meanwhile, Barcelona is lost in the final third, searching for answers to fill Neymar’s void and regain the mojo that made them Treble winners less than three years ago.  Will things change in leg 2? Can things change in leg 2?  We shall see.

Real Madrid CF vs FC Barcelona
Supercopa de Espana, Leg 2
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain
Wednesday, August 16th, 2017    5:00PM ET    ESPN2

With the aggregate set at 3-1 in favor of Real Madrid, Barcelona needs a collectively dominant performance if it is to turn this Super Cup around.  Due to the fact that Los Blancos have three away goals, a 2-0 win for the Catalan side won’t be enough.  Thus, three goals is the minimum requirement.  And considering that Real Madrid haven't been shut out of a match since the 2014-15 season, Barcelona will likely need four goals to win in regulation.  Yikes!  But, when you have the world’s best player on your side in Leo Messi, there’s always a chance.  I’d suspect that Semedo will start in place of Vidal, and Denis Suarez will get the nod over Deulofeu as well.  What about Pique?  He’ll be back performing to the level that we all have come accustom to, world class.  Thus this match willbe compelling, particularly if Barca is able to score early, which I think they will.  Although, this could also be the perfect moment for Sergio Ramos to pop-up and head in the Copa killing goal.

LSB Prediction:  With Ronaldo suspended and Messi and company eyeing revenge, this match will see Barca ahead on the scoreline, but still behind on aggregate, late on.  Therefore, La Azulgrana will have all of its men pushed forward trying to get the aggregate equalizing third, but in the end it’s Ramos lumbering forward in transition and heading home the Supercopa clincher.  Hala Madrid!  2-2 Draw (Real Madrid win the Supercopa de Espana via 5-3 on aggregate)