On Sunday night El Clasico held the world fixed one again for a great show which unfortunately resulted to be a very bad night for the madridistas all over the world. Real Madrid suffered a painful defeat in the second Clásico of the season, as the team failed to create a real continuous danger for the opponent. Entering the field with the confidence that the being in home would bring a major advantage and with a tactical system aiming to press higher than usual, resulted to be a wrong approach for Real Madrid. However, besides the loss, Madrid still have a nine-point lead at the top with nine games to go.
It looked like the Madridistas had started the game with the right pace as they had a chance to take the lead inside the first ten minutes of the game when Rodrygo received the ball from Vini Jr. but his shot flew into the side netting. Valverde came close two minutes later as his effort from the edge of the area forced Ter Stegen into a fine save. But that was not true direction that the match would follow.
The visitors struck back in the 12th minute when Aubameyang, who had earlier brought down Kroos in a doubtful intervention, struck a left-footed shot from inside the box that Courtois kept out. Ferrán Torres missed the target from just outside the area five minutes later. After the teams had traded blows during the opening exchanges, Barcelona made the breakthrough with almost half an hour played as Aubameyang nodded home Dembelé’s cross at the near post.
The madridistas came close to restoring parity following an excellent transition in the 36th minute that saw Vini Jr. sent clean through against Ter Stegen, who was equal to the task. Two minutes later, Araujo, escaped Alaba’s marking and met Dembelé’s corner with a bullet header that flew into the net to extend the visitors’ lead.
Madrid’s task became even tougher following the restart after Ferrán Torres netted on 47’, before Aubameyang completed his brace five minutes later after the assistant had initially raised his flag for offside, but the VAR system intervened to award the goal. Starting the second half almost with the same approach as the first half really killed the game and Barcelona’s victory was already a closed case. The leaders of La Liga sought to reduce the arrears from that point onwards, but ultimately failed to find a way back into the game.
This loss has more of a psychological effect rather than a ranking effect towards the teams. If the team analyses well what happened it may really serve as an important lesson for the rest of the season as more important matches are approaching. The international break will surely give a hand to Ancelotti to rethink about many details and try to set up the team in the best possible way for the remaining part of the season. On the other hand, there are the fans who deserve the best for all of the support even in a difficult night like that.
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