El Clasico, Barcelona Vs. Real Madrid: Kick-Off At The Nou Camp Sees Cristiano Ronaldo On The Right

Here’s something to read into: Cristiano Ronaldo is starting at right wing, opposite Eric Abidal in the first minutes of El Clasico.

Though he’s played left wing most often in recent seasons, the acquisition of Ángel Di Maria has meant Ronaldo’s spent more time on the right side. Not that Mourinho won’t invert his wingers, something that makes this starting deployment something far short of a shock.

Still, let’s consider the implications. On the right wing, Ronaldo will be coming onto his weaker left foot when he comes toward the middle of the park. He will also be matched up against the better defender amongst Barcelona’s outside backs, leaving Dani Alves paired with Di Maria.

But in the first moments of possession for Barcelona, we can see José Mourinho’s intention. Ángle Di Maria is playing very deep on the left side. In the first moments of the match he was closely tracking Alves as the Brazilian jogged forward into attack. Moments later he was even with left back Marcelo even as Barcelona possessed near the center circle. Just now, Di Maria was near his own byline defending against Lionel Messi.

This is a chance from the deployment we saw Mourinho used against Barcelona while with Internazionale. Then, Mourinho used three high attackers to try an pin back Alves, but today he has Di Maria serving as much as a left-sided midfielder as the wing he’s used to playing.