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“As long as I win they are unable to say a word,” Lamine Yamal once remarked, but this time he didn’t win and they were coming for him. Comments were made he spoke too much; they replied that, yeah, they would meet him off the pitch; they told him talk is cheap. This included only the players: further remarks from the preachers in their pulpits, men who never lose.

On the eve the clásico, young Lamine Yamal who claims he left fear back in Mataró implied that Real Madrid benefit from decisions and complain, or so it goes. Additionally, he offered a recollection that on his previous visit he had been the Santiago Bernabéu – as a youngster with blaugrana dental work, a glint in his gaze and a right foot was unexpected he possessed – he beat them 4-0. Yet that was past and the present differed. And, more mature now, precisely twelve months later, his side fell short. He knew, they told him so.

Jude Bellingham nets derby decisive goal as the Madrid club open a gap of their rivals

As the final whistle sounded on a wild, intense latest clásico that felt somewhat like old times, Lamine Yamal walked towards Dani Carvajal, hand out. Rather than accepting it, Madrid’s captain made the classic jibber-jabber motion. It had been hard enough keeping up with all the action that happened in over an hour and forty-five that preceded it, an encounter of numerous attempts, three goals recorded and additional efforts disallowed; now it was too much.

All at once there were players all around, racing back and forth of view and converging, police separating people apart. In the middle the scuffle, Thibaut Courtois was accepting the invitation to continue the dispute in the dressing room area. The Brazilian forward was being held back, him telling someone else they are too vocal. Barcelona’s winger was running to stop his countryman, Antonio Rüdiger there too. “The scene resembled when we youth,” the midfielder said.

Turning Point

Earlier this year, Tchouaméni had written: “They rejoice in our defeats like we will never win again. We will return stronger.” Real Madrid were defeated in a clásico Spanish Cup showpiece 3-2 after additional minutes, a collective breakdown greeting the final whistle, ice cubes being thrown. A fortnight afterwards, they were beaten again. In four encounters, the team were defeated on each occasion, La Liga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup going to Barcelona. They had conceded 4, five, 3 and 4. However there remains tomorrow and it turned out Tchouaméni was right.

Only once had Barcelona ever secured five derbies in a row, under Guardiola historic run concluding with that 5-0 against José Mourinho’s team, and it wouldn’t happen again. This past weekend, Real Madrid brought to a close Hansi Flick’s unbeaten start as manager, beating their arch-rivals 2-1 to go five points clear in first place in La Liga.

What It Means

Madrid required this. The celebration reflected this, team members dancing in circles. So did the crowd’s roar, their stadium more vocal and more edgy than for such matches for years: “amazing,” the English midfielder described it. Manager Xabi Alonso said so too. When questioned whether this was a relief, if there had been a psychosis regarding important matches, an obsession, Xabi Alonso shot back: “That is the media’s narrative.” Yet he did admit that the result represented “not just a win, and our recent history and its importance to us; the boys required the experience of winning a big game.”

Last season Madrid failed to secure a win in such matches. Fourteen times they lost: French side, Milan, English team, Athletic, city rivals, Betis, Atlético, eastern side and Arsenal all beat them. They did not achieve a single win against a top-tier opponent. Carlo Ancelotti went and was replaced by Alonso yet the trend persisted. The team won five games in the global tournament, signs of a structure developing, an idea, but then came PSG.

Season Progress

That belongs to last season, the coach said. Yet the next season, under his guidance season, started with six wins in a row before city rivals came and put 5 past them. It was all well and good defeating newly promoted, Mallorca and Osasuna however, against the big teams? Now at last they defeated one of them as well. And it wasn’t just that Madrid triumphed, but also the manner they won.

The opposition were missing out: backup keeper, young midfielder, attacking midfielder, Robert Lewandowski and defender were absent. Additionally the winger, whose significance may at least be appreciated by his absence. Others were not at 100%, Jules Koundé and young forward among them. On the bench they had five players who hadn’t started in La Liga, two more who had started just one time; two 17-year-olds, four 18-year-olds and a couple who are nineteen. And a centre-back, Uruguayan star, who finished the match up front once more. Even their manager was absent, Hansi Flick banned and stuck in a radio cabin. His assistant, his assistant, has been on the touchline three times: he suffered defeats in all of them.

Tactical Analysis

Much discussion focuses of Barcelona’s defensive setup, yet they did not attack effectively on Sunday. Of all the things directed to Lamine Yamal on Sunday, perhaps the most telling was from the Brazilian mid-match, taunting Yamal by telling him: “You’re all backwards passes.” Regarding that backline, more porous than before with the defender leaving, the pressure on passers dropping and the timing lacking, one opponent created six clear chances versus Barcelona, another team 5, Sevilla five, Catalan club three. Last year they trapped the French forward in an offside position on multiple occasions in an open clásico; however, overshadowed by the defeats, was that in the last meeting he scored a hat-trick, Madrid consistently likely to create chances currently.

Key Moments

With this approach, especially. This was a beginning as well as a significant result. “Going forward we will require a lot of our performance today,” Alonso commented. They put the ball result in goals on five occasions – three disallowed for offside – missed {a penalty|a spot-kick