El Clasico: Barca pinned to a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid

What difference a “clásico” makes. 

Spain’s biggest soccer match can quickly change the narrative of the season, and this time it shifted in favor of Real Madrid after the team’s 2-0 win over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Sunday. 

Madrid had entered the match on the cusp of a crisis after a series of poor results. 

Barcelona had been the team thriving going into Sunday’s game, coming off four straight league victories and playing well under coach Quique Setién.

It went home without the Spanish league lead and with critics back in attack mode. 

“It had been a complicated week for us and we knew we were going to have an opportunity to change things around on Sunday,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. 

“It’s been an up-and-down season for the Spanish powerhouses, with one team on top one day and struggling the next.”

Barcelona had been the team in trouble at the start of the year amid an institutional crisis that included a controversial coaching change and conflicts between players and club officials.

Madrid was playing well at that time, having won the Spanish Super Cup and taking over the Spanish league lead. 

But the pressure was back with Madrid after consecutive setbacks and a winless streak at home that included a loss to Manchester City in the last 16 of the Champions League last week. 

“Each team had its problems, it’s not like we were doing great either,” Barcelona captain Gerard Piqué said. There were different phases within the match itself, with each team dominating a half before Madrid earned the victory with second-half goals by Vinícius Júnior and Mariano Díaz to take a one-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the standings.

“Zidane also didn’t think Sunday’s “clásico” meant the end of it. ” .

Oh and Where was the ‘Goat’ Messi

He wasted some clear chances he normally converts, including two in one-on-one situations against Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. 

Heavily marked by Federico Valverde, Casemiro and Toni Kroos, Messi couldn’t create many scoring opportunities for his Barcelona teammates.

Crucial Courtois

Courtois kept Madrid in the game while the team struggled in the first half, making crucial stops when Barcelona had clear chances. 

He beat Messi and Arthur in one-on-one attempts before halftime and made a good save after an attempt by Martin Braithwaite in the second half.

Hazard Surgery

Madrid’s biggest signing in last year’s offseason, Hazard broke his lower right leg a week ago, just as he was returning to action after missing nearly three months because of a similar injury.