Barcelona’s winning run was ended by Real Madrid at Camp Nou, with Jose Mourinho’s side exploiting weaknesses that had already been highlighted by Paris Saint-Germain. The defeat was less convincing than PSG’s Champions League victory, but it confirmed that Hansi Flick’s team can be beaten.
Euro-football.ru gave each Barcelona player a rating based on a starting mark of 6, with 10 the highest possible score. Four players received the lowest assessment of 3.0 after a match in which Barcelona’s young talents and substitutes had little influence.
Lamine Yamal – 3.0
Lamine Yamal had minimal impact on Barcelona’s attacking play and struggled to make anything happen in the final third. In the race for the Ballon d’Or, he was comfortably outshone by Kylian in this clasico.
The winger repeatedly saw his efforts blocked by defenders, lost nine individual duels and committed three fouls. Neither his dribbling nor his shooting worked, while he also wasted a goalscoring opportunity created by Fermin.
It was a performance in which Yamal failed to carry the attack or provide the creativity Barcelona needed.
Pau Cubarsi – 3.0
Pau Cubarsi was another Barcelona youngster who was overwhelmed during the match. Eduardo Camavinga beat him with a piece of skill while creating Real Madrid’s second goal, and Jude Bellingham also left the defender wrong-footed before helping to create a two-on-one situation.
Cubarsi was behind his opponents both in terms of sharpness on the pitch and speed of thought. He lost four of the six duels or key situations in which he was involved.
Anthony Gordon – 3.0
Anthony Gordon worked hard, but his efforts produced little. He had three attempts from promising positions, yet did not find the target when at least one of those chances should have resulted in a shot on goal.
Barcelona also needed Gordon to produce at least one dangerous pass, but he created neither a goal nor a clear attacking threat. He did pick up a yellow card for jumping into Arda Guler, disappeared from the game after half-time and was substituted later than might have been expected.
Gabriel Jesus – 3.0
Gabriel Jesus spent only three minutes on the pitch but still ended up among Barcelona’s lowest-rated players. He lost possession, was beaten by Bellingham and played a part in the move that led to Real Madrid’s second goal.
His brief appearance therefore had a decisive negative effect, making him an unfortunate example of what the report described as a “productive substitution” by Flick.