Possession Stats Are Pretty Much Meaningless

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Once again Barcelona saw the majority of the ball, and once again all their position came to nothing.

At the halftime whistle the hosts were judged to have enjoyed upwards of 65 percent possession, and yet they not only trailed by a goal but had created very little.

While perimeter passing inflates the much-ballyhooed possession statistic, it doesn’t mean much. When Madrid were on the ball they tended to be quicker and more intentional in their passing, and it paid off, in particular with Ronaldo’s second of the night following an effective counterattack.