Real Madrid had another afternoon worthy of the disappointing season they are having this year. The Whites played for their chances of winning LaLiga, and as luck would have it, they came up short again. The Whites can’t seem to get their heads up, and for the fourth time this season, they were clearly outplayed by Barça.
Barça, who had already won the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu 4-0, took the Spanish Super Cup in Riyadh with a resounding 5-2 victory and also won the Copa del Rey title against the Whites at La Cartuja, winning 3-2 in extra time. Sunday’s match started well for Real Madrid, who took a 2-0 lead early on, but the joy was short-lived.
The Azulgranas, accustomed lately to fighting against the tide, were quick to react, and Eric García and Lamine Yamal soon equalized. At that point, Raphinha appeared to turn the game around with a brace, which Mbappé would cap off with his third goal of the afternoon, but the Frenchman’s efforts were not enough for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
The defeat ended their chances of winning LaLiga, as Barça are now seven points ahead with nine games to go and have a better goal difference. After the match, coach Carlo Ancelotti blamed the defeat on the fact that his team went into the game with a depleted defense and were unable to contain the Blaugrana’s tremendous attacking potential.
“In a game of this level, you have to defend well and attack well. We attacked well, but in those 30 minutes we made defensive mistakes and it cost us the game,” he said. ‘In attack, we had clear ideas, but I don’t think we defended well. We mustn’t forget that we were missing five defenders, we mustn’t forget that,’ added the coach.
Ancelotti was also asked about the team’s four defeats against Barcelona this season. “We had to defend better. Today’s result is quite clear. We defended badly, not because we were sitting back, we defended badly, full stop, because defending high up the pitch is easier.”
More bad news in defense
If they were already missing five defenders—Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Rüdiger, Alaba, and Mendy—after El Clásico, things have gotten worse. With Asencio as the only center back, Ancelotti has decided to turn to Tchouaméni, who has already been forced to play center back on several occasions, not with the best of results, but he is the only alternative available to the coach, who will now also be without him.
The yellow card Aurélien Tchouaméni received in the 36th minute of the Clásico in Barcelona leaves Carlo Ancelotti without a defense for Wednesday’s LaLiga match against Mallorca. The French midfielder will not be able to play in the next game, so the Italian coach will only have three first-team defenders available: Lucas Vázquez, Fran García, and Raúl Asencio. He will have to change the position of one player or turn to the youth team, with Jacobo Ramón as the most likely center back.