🔗 Share this article

“As long as I win they can’t say a word,” Lamine Yamal once remarked, however this time he came up short and they were coming for him. They said he spoke too much; they replied that, indeed, they would see him outside; the message was words mean little. This included just the players: there was more from the preachers in their pulpits, individuals who never lose.

Just before this epic clash, the teenager who says he abandoned nervousness behind in Mataró suggested that Real Madrid rob and moan, or so it goes. He also provided a reminder that the last time he stepped onto Madrid’s home ground – a kid with blaugrana braces, a glint in his gaze and a right foot they didn’t know he possessed – he beat them 4-0. Yet that was past and this was now. And, more mature currently, exactly a year on, he was beaten back. He knew, they told him so.

Jude Bellingham nets derby decisive goal as the Madrid club pull clear of Barcelona

When the final whistle went on a wild, heated 262nd clásico that felt somewhat like past encounters, the Barcelona winger approached in the direction of Dani Carvajal, offering a handshake. Rather than taking it, Carvajal made the old jibber-jabber motion. The match was hard enough following with everything that happened in over an hour and forty-five that preceded it, an encounter of 38 shots, three goals recorded and three more ruled out; now it was impossible.

All at once there were players all around, running in and out of view and converging, police pulling individuals apart. In the middle the melee, Madrid’s goalkeeper was accepting the invitation to resume the dispute down the tunnel. The Brazilian forward was restrained, he telling another player as well they talk to much. Raphinha was running to stop his compatriot, the defender also present. “It was when we young,” the midfielder commented.

Turning Point

Earlier this year, Tchouaméni posted: “Opponents celebrate our defeats as if our winning days are over. We will return stronger.” Madrid were defeated in a derby Spanish Cup final 3-2 after additional minutes, emotional scenes greeting the end, projectiles flying. A fortnight later, they were beaten again. Over four clásicos, the team were defeated four times, league, cup and Spanish Super Cup going to Barcelona. They had conceded four, five, 3 and four. However there remains the future and as it happened he proved correct.

On just one occasion had Barcelona previously won five derbies consecutively, under Guardiola record-breaking run concluding with the famous 5-0 against José Mourinho’s team, and it was not repeated. This past weekend, Madrid brought to a close Hansi Flick’s unbeaten start as manager, defeating their arch-rivals 2-1 to move a significant margin clear at the top of the table.

What It Means

The Madrid squad had needed the victory. The celebration said so, players celebrating together. Likewise, the crowd’s roar, the Bernabéu more vocal and intense compared to for such matches in recent memory: “amazing,” the English midfielder described it. Manager Xabi Alonso echoed this. Asked whether this was a relief, if there had been a psychosis around big games, a fixation, he shot back: “That is the media’s narrative.” Yet he acknowledged that this was “more than a win, and our recent history and its importance to us; the players required that feeling of winning a big game.”

In the previous campaign they had not won in such matches. On fourteen occasions they lost: French side, Italian club, English team, Bilbao, Espanyol, Betis, city foes, Valencia and Arsenal all beat them. There wasn’t one victory against a top-tier opponent. The previous manager went and was replaced by Alonso yet the trend persisted. The team won five games in the global tournament, indications of a structure developing, an idea, however then came Paris Saint Germain.

Season Progress

That defeat is part of the prior year, Alonso stated. But the next season, his season, began with six wins in a row until city rivals visited and put five against them. The results were positive beating newly promoted, island team and Pamplona side but what about the big teams? Finally they had beaten a major rival too. Moreover not only that they won, it was the way they won.

Barcelona were missing out: backup keeper, young midfielder, attacking midfielder, star striker and Andreas Christensen were absent. So too Raphinha, whose significance might now be appreciated by his absence. Others were not at 100%, defender and young forward included. Among substitutes were five players who not begun a league game, two more who had started just one time; two 17-year-olds, four 18-year-olds and a couple who are 19. And a centre-back, Ronald Araújo, who finished the match up front once more. Additionally their manager was missing, Hansi Flick suspended and located in a radio cabin. His assistant, Sorg, was on the touchline three times: he suffered defeats in all of them.

Game Breakdown

Much is made of the team’s defensive setup, but their offense struggled effectively on Sunday. Among the things directed at the young player that day, perhaps the most telling was from the Brazilian during the game, mocking Yamal by telling him: “Your play is retreating balls.” Regarding their defense, leakier compared to past after the defender leaving, the pressure on opponents dropping and the timing lacking, Levante created six clear chances versus Barcelona, another team five, Andalusian side 5, Girona three. Previously they caught the French forward offside eight times in an open clásico; yet, lost amid losses, was that in the last meeting he got a hat-trick, Real Madrid consistently likely to get opportunities now.

Decisive Actions

With this approach, in particular. The match served as a start as well as an end in itself. “Going forward we’re going to need a lot of our performance today,” Alonso commented. The team had shots in the net five times – three disallowed due to offside – missed {a penalty|a spot-kick