Scattered notes: A new segment where I dump my notepad into an article after each game. Uncomplicated, unfiltered, unprofessional.
Disarray
That was ugly.
From the tactical setup to the execution, Real Madrid were outplayed in every phase of the game. As early as the 56th minute, Carlo Ancelotti’s men were down 5 – 1 and a man up thanks to a Wojciech Szczęsny red card. The red card did nothing to spur a comeback. The team looked just as lost, a man up, as they did when the playing field was ‘even’.
The only thing Szczęsny’s red card did was provide Real Madrid with some relief, as Barcelona pulled into a deeper block and ceased their attacks. What the red card essentially did was prevent a double-digit blowout. Until that point — much like the previous Clasico in October — Hansi Flick’s men looked like they were going to score every single time they had the ball.
While the individual mistakes on the field were glaring, the deeper issues stem from systemic failures that have been brewing for a while.
Right-Back Roulette
It’s completely unsustainable for Lucas Vázquez to continue at right-back until the end of the season. There have been enough warning signs for a while. Rayo Vallecano (Nteka), Atalanta (Lookman), Pachuca (Idrissi), Barcelona (Raphina), an so forth — every opponent rightfully targets Vazquez as a defensively liability to exploit.
The club can’t afford to wait until May or June to address Vazquez black hole. The season is on the line, already.
Ideally, that means signing a proper right-back in January. If that doesn’t happen — and the track record suggests it won’t — the most realistic (though far from ideal) solution would be to shift Fede Valverde to right-back. That in itself manifests a new problem: Valverde is already overburdened with minutes.
The actual ideal solution — grooming someone like Jesus Fortea or Lorenzo Aguado —should’ve been birthed months ago. While it’s true they may not have been ready to start a Clasico tonight, the reason is because they weren’t given enough reps in August, September, October, November, and December.
The only reason we knew that Raul Asencio was ready to play in a Clasico tonight was because he was forced into action earlier. Had Eder Militao had his ACL torn last week, would we have known of Asencio’s ability by now? That’s a rhetorical question.
How many emergencies does it take for the coaching staff to start integrating young talent like Fortea or Lorenzo? This lack of planning has left the team scrambling, as opposing team’s constantly expose Lucas Vazquez on that wing, while Aurelien Tchouameni has struggled defensively beside him.
Tactically Lost
Behind the confusion of the double-pivot of Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga, Barcelona’s midfielders could roam freely, untracked to receive the ball in danger zones. Once the midfield broke, chaos ensued — Lamine Yamal and Raphinha flew in, and the defense was in a constant scramble.
Real Madrid’s pressing game against Barcelona was ill-advised and poorly executed. Barca baited the press all night, and Madrid fell into the trap, leaving their defensive structure in shambles. Ancelotti has been here long enough to know what to expect from this Barcelona side: superior positional play and an ability to exploit gaps ruthlessly.
It’s easy to blame Lucas Vázquez, Aurélien Tchouaméni, or the midfield for their individual mistakes. But Ancelotti must bear responsibility for failing to put the team in a position to succeed. Knowing your defensive liabilities ahead of time, how do you mask them? Hansi Flick, for example, defends high up the pitch to minimize exposure to his backline; or slows the game down with sustained possession while baiting a naive Real Madrid to press, creating their own transition opportunities in turn. Ancelotti, by contrast, seemed (seems!) to have no clear plan.
The entire attacking strategy appeared to hinge on individual brilliance — generational brilliance, even. What Real Madrid’s attackers were tasked to do tonight was unreasonable: Ignite low-probability, isolated transition attacks, with little-to-no support. Barcelona’s transition defense is too good to not snuff out these predictable attacks.
Empty Words
Ancelotti’s post-game press conference offered little in the way of meaningful solutions. “The plan was to play,” he said.
What does that mean? What’s happening in training to prepare the team for Barcelona’s positional superiority? How is this team so unprepared to close defensive channels, track third-man runs, or contest 50/50 balls? There is a reason every loose ball fell to a Barcelona player. One team was in position to counter-press, find the open man, and to pounce on loose balls. The other team looked shell-shocked, playing through quick-sand — labouring to find an outlet pass.
This wasn’t the first Clasico against this Barcelona side. The same problems appeared in October’s bloodbath. The team tonight fluctuated through two defensive states: 1) Sitting deep without actually defending compactly, giving Barca too much respect on the ball, and never being in a position to win duels or escape the press; and 2) Getting baited into an inefficient press.
Mbappé
The lone bright spot in this disaster was Kylian Mbappé. He looked like the peak version of himself—proactive, efficient, and relentless in breaking lines. But even Mbappé’s heroics couldn’t mask the team’s larger issues. His efforts lacked support, and relying on his counter-attacking brilliance won’t cut it when the team is being suffocated in every other aspect of the game.
What’s next?
Sometimes is difficult to zoom out in such low moments during the season, but the team is still in play for three major titles. Clasico losses — even the worst ones — are not indicative of where the team will in up at the end of the season.
But Real Madrid’s problems go beyond Clasico. While Barcelona have exploited Ancelotti’s blueprint more ruthlessly than anyone, many teams have ripped through Real Madrid, and tonight’s performance was a big regression.
