If there is one game that needs no special introduction, no heated previews, no extra-motivation, it’s the biggest match in Spain, in the world, arguably, the El Clásico. A rivalry that has seen pretty much everything along the years, fights, red cards, thrashings, last-minute winners… anything you can think of.
And every single time the two giants meet, the world’s attention turns to Spain. Whether it’s a friendly during the US summer tour, a Supercup match, a UCL semifinal… sparks are a guarantee and the spectacle too.
Every Clásico ends up having its own story, and there’s only one man to thank for the narrative that built around this one: Lamine Yamal. Barça’s diamond, despite his unquestionable talent and ability is dividing opinions over the globe, even among Barcelona fans with his off the field shenanigans that some suggest might cost him dearly in the future. The first sign of what that could look like hit hard this Sunday.
Giving your opponents extra-motivation? Not the best idea
In the build-up to the game one of Spain’s most popular streamers and the creator of the Kings League, Ibai Llanos, called Lamine for a little chat since their teams were facing each other in the mentioned competition. What was meant to be friendly banter soon caught national, then international attention after the youngster’s, well… let’s say unfortunate declarations, with the harshest being that Real Madrid “rob, steal, and then complain”.
He then talked about “having scored at the Bernabéu already” and “winning 0-4 the last time he was there”. Now, don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being confident, but… As the host of CBS Sports Golazo’s Network show Numbers Don’t Lie, powered by Sofascore, JayDee Dyer, summed it up in the show’s latest segment: ‘If you talk the talk, better be ready to walk the walk.’
Well… let’s just say he failed to do it. Although, as suggested by co-host Nico Cantor, he might not still be fully fit following the injury he suffered recently, Yamal failed to impose himself on the pitch and take control of the game as he did so many times last season. Of course, a lot of credit goes to Real Madrid players and their performance, full of fire and grit as they didn’t give up on a single ball during the entire match. Surely the youngster’s comments had something to do with it?
Same, same, but different… Xabi Alonso is cooking in Madrid
Of course you don’t beat such a good team with only passion and heart. You need a plan to follow, and a cool head to execute it to perfection. And that’s exactly what Real Madrid did. Guys from Numbers Don’t Lie were more then right to highlight players like Mbappé, Bellingham and Camavinga, but it was above all, a team effort. Given the context of the match, four consecutive wins for Barça in their H2H encounters with 16 goals scored, the decision to press them high up the pitch was a big risk. But it paid off. Barcelona struggled to progress with the ball, often relying on long balls with which the Madrid defence dealt easily.
And when they won the ball, they wasted no time to be dangerous with it. Scoring two in the first half, having another one and a penalty cancelled due to tiny offsides, and having in mind the fact that Barça’s goalkeeper was the man of the match… well, that sums up how dominant Real Madrid looked on their own turf against their biggest rival. A completely different picture compared to what happened exactly 365 days earlier, when Hansi Flick’s men humiliated Los Blancos. If it weren’t for Wojciech Szczęsny, the humiliation might have been on the cards this year too.
A debut Clásico win: A good omen for the future?
With this big win, Xabi Alonso became only the second of Real Madrid’s last eight managers to win his first El Clásico. The other one? A certain Zinédine Zidane, the man who created the legendary three-peat squad that dominated European football unlike anyone before.
If that’s anything to go by… Xabi Alonso might be in for a good run himself. But it won’t all be as easy as it seems… Handling superstars is the biggest challenge of managing the world’s biggest club, and Vinícius Júnior’s reaction after being subbed out on Sunday tells us there will be a lot of work for the Basque.