El Clasico: Real Madrid, Mbappe struggle; Barcelona step up

MADRID — Robert Lewandowski scored twice, while Lamine Yamal and Raphinha tallied goals each, as Barcelona capped a remarkable week by routing Real Madrid 4-0 in Saturday’s Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu. With the lopsided loss, Real Madrid saw their 42-game unbeaten streak in LaLiga ended.

Veteran striker Lewandowski scored twice in three second-half minutes to set Barça on their way, with Yamal firing the third into the roof of the net and Raphinha lofting the fourth over the head of goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was filling in for injured Thibaut Courtois.

The win comes just three days after Barça trounced Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League, and it moves them six points clear of rivals Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table after 11 games.

Madrid had not lost in the league since falling to Atlético Madrid at the beginning of last season, and even a draw here would have seen them draw level with Barça’s LaLiga record 43-game unbeaten streak.

However, after a scoreless first half in which Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid wasted a slew of chances, Carlo Ancelotti’s side were torn apart by a ruthless Barça side, whose incredible start to the season under new coach Hansi Flick continued at the home of their biggest rivals.

Here are the big talking points from El Clásico:

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Mbappé has a Clásico debut to forget

This was supposed to be the Clásico of Mbappé, his first since joining Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer in the biggest blockbuster move of the summer transfer window. He has always enjoyed playing Barça, scoring six times against them in four appearances with the French side, but his luck was out on Saturday.

An early miss, later ruled offside, set the tone for an evening of misses and offside calls. One of those calls was given after he thought he had opened the scoring, dinking the ball over Iñaki Peña, but VAR revealed he mistimed his run behind Iñigo Martínez.

In total, Mbappe was caught offside six times in the first half, more than any game previously in his career, before another two offside calls in the second half. His eight offside calls in a single game is tied for the most of any player in the last 15 LaLiga seasons.

His first official shot on goal didn’t arrive until the 61st minute in the end. More followed, as well as another offside goal, but his finishing left something to be desired. Peña denied him on every occasion. He could have learned a thing or two from Lewandowski at the other end.

It has not been a disastrous start to his Madrid career by any means, but these are the games on which he was signed to have an impact.

He has eight goals in all competitions so far, but the feeling is Madrid fans are still waiting for him to click in a new-look attack alongside Vinícius Júnior and with Jude Bellingham behind.

There was palpable frustration from supporters as more offside calls followed in the second half and the game, perhaps fittingly, ended with another offside flag and another save from Peña as Mbappé raced through.

Lewandowski anchors the youthful revolution at Barcelona

Barça fielded their second-youngest team in a Clásico fixture in 80 years and their youngest since 1956. The difference-maker, though, was 36-year-old Lewandowski, who wrestled the game away from Madrid with a masterclass in finishing at the start of the second half.

The Poland international, played onside by Ferland Mendy, finished brilliantly in the 54th minute after being played through by Marc Casadó and then, three minutes later, guided a superb header past Lunin from Alejandro Balde‘s left wing cross.

Lewandowski’s form was criticised at times last season, but he has been brilliant under his former Bayern boss Flick. He has now netted 14 goals in LaLiga in just 11 appearances this season — and 17 in all competitions. He is benefitting from staying more central, getting more of the ball in and around the area and letting the youngsters do the running around him.

It was one of the youngsters, 17-year-old Yamal, who took the game away from Madrid late on. Predominantly left-footed, he perhaps caught Madrid out by taking his chance early on his right foot, blazing the ball past Lunin as a stunned silence fell around the Bernabeu. In doing so, Yamal became the youngest scorer in the Clásico.

Raphinha, fresh from a midweek hat trick, added the fourth and Barça will look back at missed chances before Yamal’s goal — one absolutely glaring miss from Lewandowski especially — and wonder if they might have scored even more on the night.

Barça’s high line reaps rewards again

A theme of Barça’s season has been their aggressive high line, along with their relentless pressing. Before the Clásico, they had the highest defensive line in LaLiga at 61 yards when the ball is in the opposition half. As a result, they have drawn over 70 offsides this season — more than double any other side in the top five European leagues.

After coming though the Bayern test in midweek, the big question was whether they would pull it off against Madrid, Mbappé and Vinícius?

There were some hairy moments in the first half, not least the disallowed goal from Mbappé, but Pau Cubarsí and Martínez stuck to their task, stuck as close to the halfway line as possible and caught Madrid offside time and again. In the end, Los Blancos were offside 12 times in the game — and eight in the first half alone.

The offside trap was helped by the relentless pressing in midfield and further forward from the likes of Casadó, Fermín López and Raphinha, with the former rewarded with an assist for the opening goal. It feels as if this team under Flick could go far now.

Ancelotti has work to do with his Real Madrid team of superstars

Whatever way you look at it, it was a disastrous night for Madrid. Not only did they lose their long unbeaten run and fall six points behind Barça in LaLiga, but they suffered their third-largest loss in LaLiga of all time. They have not suffered a larger defeat at home in the league since 1974.

It brings back to the the surface a number of issues that have been present throughout this season, even if they have often been papered over by brilliant individual displays, such as Vinícius’ hat trick in the midweek comeback against Borussia Dortmund.

However, they deeply miss Toni Kroos. What Mbappé and Vinícius would do to have his passing in behind. There is still something lacking in attack, despite the obvious quality, and there is the Bellingham issue. He is without a goal in 11 games this season after registering a career-high 23 last term.

To cap it all off, with Courtois and David Alaba missing, they collapsed defensively in the second half.

The season is still young, and Madrid have a habit of peaking when it matters, but Ancelotti has work to do.