When the ball gives its verdict

With the four clásicos over, Barça have shown that they are untouchable when it comes to controlling the play. They never had less than 67% possession, had more shots on target than Madrid, and committed fewer fouls.

The 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu as good as sealed the championship for Barça, then Madrid won the Copa del Rey 1-0 followed by 0-2 and 1-1 results in the Champions League semi finals to secure FCB’s ticket for Wembley. That’s the balance of the last 18 days. Madrid have the only trophy to show for it, but Barcelona have made huge steps towards conquering the two most important titles. 

Barça monologue 
When it comes to clásicos, the Barça players do their talking on the pitch, and their performances were devastating: 72% possession in the first game, 69% in the second, 74% in the third and 67% in the fourth. Curiously, their most dominant showings were in their games at the Bernabéu against a Madrid side that played defensively. 

As for passes we had 179 for Madrid and 740 for Barça in the first game, 184-816 (second game), 181-712 (third game) and 276-645 (fourth game). In total, 820 good passes for the whites and 2913 for FCB. 

Shots more balanced But despite Barcelona’s dominance in midfield, when it came to shots on goal, the two teams has similar records until the second leg of the UCL semi final. In the first match, Barça had slightly more (5-6), while Madrid had the edge in the second and third (5-3 and 5-4). But in the fourth game, Pep Guardiola’s led by a mile, with eight shots for Casillas to deal with, and just one for Valdés, which led to their only goal. 

Madrid tops in fouls and cards 
As for fouls, Madrid committed most, 95 (21, 26, 18 and 30), with Barça on just 69 (13, 24, 22 and 10). That was an average of 24 for Madrid (twice as many as they had made in the Champions League before the semis) while Barça’s average was 17. José Mourinho’s side received 15 yellow cards and 3 reds, while Guardiola’s side received 11 yellows and one red.