Real Madrid win El Clasico and put Xavi's project in jeopardy
The first Clasico of the season arrived with all the cards marked. Barça were almost eliminated from the Champions League for the second year running and Real Madrid were in enviable form and unbeaten so far this season.
Courtois missed the game against Barça because his injury is not improving. Everything is going well for Ancelotti, who has been forced to try out Lunin to assess the state of the Real Madrid goalkeeping system for the future. And it's not going badly.
Tchouaméni, Kross and Modric manned the midfield with an iron fist and Valverde was an extra striker alongside Benzema and Vinicius. Barça got even more lost with this scheme and Busquets, De Jong and Pedri were unable to stop the white machine.
The inexperience of many Barça players and the poor form of others led to the first goal. A lost ball on the edge of the area found its way to the boots of Kroos, who Busquets was unable to foul to stop the play.
The pass found its way to Vinicius, who was at it again on the left flank. He faced up to Ter Stegen and the goalkeeper's rebound was seized upon by Benzema to score his first in the week in which he can receive the Ballon d'Or.
Real Madrid lost control of the ball and Barça went forward with Dembelé, Raphinha and Lewandowski, but the white defence was more accurate and nullified the Polish striker, who had the chance to make it 1-1 at the far post but sent the ball into the clouds.
Xavi still has a lot of work to do in the blaugrana team. It was not all levers and big names. It is still unclear what Barça are playing and many expect to see Guardiola's football, but that is not going to happen.
Real Madrid's second goal made a fool of the Catalan team's defence. Vinicuis against four opponents waiting for his team-mates to drag the defence into the box. Once the clearance was made, the ball came to Valverde who shot with the same ease as if he were taking a penalty, and he adjusted the ball to the right post.
Real Madrid's dominance was clear, and in the second half Benzema scored another goal that was disallowed for offside. Real Madrid were unable to close out the Clásico and Barça, by inertia, went forward in search of the goal that would put the pressure on in the final minutes.
They found it after a steal in Madrid's counter attack, the ball reached Ferran and the 2-1 scoreline made the Bernabeu tremble as they saw their defence flinch too much.
Rodrygo, Asensio and Rudiger were the changes with which Ancelotti wanted to keep the three points. He knew that the Brazilian's magic was still there to put the icing on the cake.
A Real Madrid counter-attack and a glaring mistake by Eric García led to the penalty. The Barça centre-back again showed his shortcomings, although it seems that Luis Enrique will not take that into account ahead of the World Cup.
Rodrygo himself scored the 3-1 penalty and the Real Madrid fans sent the team off with olés in the stands and are already hoping that on Monday football will give Benzema his first Ballon d'Or.
Real Madrid take another step towards closing the first half of the season with all their homework done. They lead La Liga and are in the last 16 of the Champions League, hoping that the World Cup does not destabilise the team too much.
