Madrid put one hand on the LALIGA title as they secured a dramatic late win over rivals Barcelona in El Clásico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Barcelona twice took the lead through Andreas Christensen and then Fermín López, but Vinícius Júnior equalised first from the spot, followed by Lucas Vázquez, who then went on to set up Jude Bellingham for the injury-time winner in a 3-2 victory.
Three answers
1. How strong a team would Carlo Ancelotti put out?
Following the exhausting heroics of Manchester in midweek, it was expected that Carlo Ancelotti may be left with little choice but to introduce changes to his team to take on Barcelona, despite being an all-important Clásico. He did make changes, with Dani Carvajal and Nacho resting and Ferland Mendy injured (more on that later), but the introduction of Luka Modrić, Lucas Vázquez and Aurelién Tchouameni meant that their absence was barely noted. The real star was Lucas Vázquez, winning the penalty for the first goal, then scoring the second himself, and then assisting the winner, but Modrić also bossed the midfield and Tchouameni looked like he had never been away in defence.
2. Could Real Madrid complete the set and beat Barcelona in all three Clásicos in 2023/24?
When Jude Bellingham fired home in injury time, it completed a set of three wins over Barcelona this season and to beat them in every encounter in 2023/24. That’s a feat that has only been achieved on four previous occasions, most recently under Jose Mourinho in 2012/13. It’s made all the more impressive realising that Xavi’s team were unbeaten in 10 and had not lost an away game in LALIGA until they arrived at the Bernabéu. This side are the closest Real Madrid have to rivals in the title race and Real Madrid fought to twice come back from behind to eventually end up on top for the final three minutes of the game when it really counted.
3. Who would Carlo Ancelotti trust most at left-back?
With Ferland Mendy missing training late this week, there was an expectation that even if he was fit enough to make the bench, he wouldn’t be risked from the start. That’s exactly what happened, which opened up a second debate. The usual replacement would have been Fran García, who started the season as first choice but has since fallen from favour. Before the Clásico, he had played only 23 minutes in two substitute appearances in the last nine games running back to his last start, against Sevilla more than two months ago. Instead, Ancelotti opted for one of his trusted soldiers in Eduardo Camavinga, seemingly preferring his flexibility and moving him out of the midfield to take him to the left, a role he played regularly last season with strong performances. Perhaps this decision says more about the club’s plans this summer than anything else, with Ancelotti’s doubts about García’s defending clearly enough to relegate him to the status of last resort.
Three questions
1. What does this mean for the title race?
With this win, Real Madrid move 11 points clear at the top of LALIGA and, with only six games left to go and 18 points up for grabs, the title is only bound one way. If Real Madrid (who take on Real Sociedad, Cádiz and Granada) and Barcelona (who play Valencia, Girona and Real Sociedad) both win their next three games, the title will be sealed at Granada on Matchday 35 in the second weekend of May. Should Barcelona drop points beforehand and Real Madrid avoid doing so, the title could be wrapped up sooner, which would be a boost given that the Granada trip falls just after the Champions League semi-final second leg. It’s just a matter of time now.
2. What was going on at set pieces?
Barcelona were looking to find the chink in Real Madrid’s armour and they certainly seemed to find it with corners. Barça’s use of screens had a real impact and created huge amounts of space in the box as the ball came in, seemingly throwing off Andriy Lunin who looked like a fish out of water. Andreas Christensen rose higher than Toni Kroos at the far post and was able to nod the ball in. Later on it was another corner where the ball went to the near post and Lamine Yamal flicked it goalwards and almost caught out the Ukrainian again. It was a matter of having prepared well for the game and Real Madrid looked vulnerable. Perhaps more time should have been spent on defending set pieces and less on the bizarre routine of outfield players taking goal-kicks.
3. When will LALIGA introduce goal-line technology?
There was a great deal of irony in that LALIGA’s biggest spectacle was putting on a show, including the 360 degree video scoreboard which was used for the first time at the Bernabéu, when it showed up one of its most absurd weaknesses. Despite calls over the years, LALIGA continue to resist goal-line technology, with Javier Tebas and company long arguing that there was no need for it with VAR technology available. As was shown here, that couldn’t be further from the truth, as Andriy Lunin’s body blocked the only conclusive camera angle to tell if Lamine Yamal’s near-post flick had crossed the line. The decision went Real Madrid’s way, with on-field referee César Soto Grado and VAR official José María Sánchez Martínez deciding that the ball had not fully crossed the line, but the decision took several minutes and will undoubtedly feed those with an anti-Real Madrid agenda. The main reason against using the technology is said to be the €4 million per season cost, and this incident may have harmed LALIGA’s reputation by that much in one instant.
