La Liga: The aftermath in Spain following 'El Clasico'

For a club like Real Madrid, pride is almost as important as winning trophies. The poor start to the domestic campaign could be forgiven if Los Blancos were victorious over their main rivals Barcelona. So maybe the title would still be beyond them, victory or not, but some semblance of pride is all that matters. They couldn’t even achieve that as Madrid crashed to a 3-0 defeat in front of their own fans – again.

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In fact, this was the fourth time in five years that Barcelona have left the Santiago Bernabeu with all three points. The fear factor for their rivals simply doesn’t exist. It’s a fixture, in the league, which Barcelona dominate with ease. Since 2014, Real Madrid have only beaten them once. That’s why a team with eight trophies in two years still feels hurt.

Zidane is the chief villain..

This morning the knifes are out, primarily for Zinedine Zidane. When you make big decisions, such as leaving Isco out of the team, it can backfire when things don’t go according to plan. The idea of using Mateo Kovacic instead to occupy a one-man marking mission on Lionel Messi worked in the Spanish Super Cup. But it felt harsh to leave out Isco, who has been the team’s best player this season.

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Fans were unhappy at the manner of the defeat, especially after such a strong opening 45 minutes. The team fell apart in the second half, way before Barcelona broke the deadlock. Zidane had a chance to introduce Isco prior to that but didn’t. After the goal, Zidane also failed to react. Ten minutes later and the game was beyond them.

Where was Isco?

It didn’t help matters that the man who replaced Isco in the starting line-up was the main culprit for Barcelona’s first goal. Kovacic was more concerned with Messi’s movement that he allowed Rakitic 20 yards of space to run in to. With Casemiro caught up field, it left Madrid chasing shadows. The first goal was key, as it forced Madrid to open up and this in turn presented Barcelona with more opportunities to counter.

Zidane defiantly said he “regretted nothing” regarding his team selection. As it commonplace in Spain, the major newspapers conducted polls to gauge fans’ opinions. 76% of AS readers said Isco didn’t deserve to be on the bench. This was only at 65% during the game but naturally rose following the team’s poor fortunes on the pitch.

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Benzema’s relationship with the fans is at an all-time low

The other major thing that Zidane got wrong, according to the fans, was picking Karim Benzema. It’s a high pressure environment at Real Madrid and Benzema knows, due to his dwindling star power, he’s the first in line for criticism. And while he did hit the post with a fine header, his overall contribution was poor. Unable to hold up the ball correctly, win it back or pose a more significant threat were all sticks to beat the French striker with.

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Isco has more goals (4) and assists (3) than Benzema this season (2 & 2). Those are damning numbers. Is it time for Madrid to invest some serious money in a more reliable, functioning striker? No doubt those Harry Kane rumours will be starting up again soon. After all, the Spurs hitman seems to be the only person capable of keeping pace with Messi’s numbers in 2017.

New signings? But if last summer’s additions can’t even make the bench..

Another reaction is unsurprisingly the call for new blood in this Real Madrid squad. There’s an argument that a fully fit Gareth Bale could be like a new signing. But perhaps the most damning observation from yesterday is how only one of last summer’s new additions made the match day squad: Theo Hernandez. He was on the bench but didn’t feature. Marcos Llorente, Borja Mayoral, Jesus Vallejo and Dani Ceballos were all discarded.

Could this see Madrid move away from their youth-centric approach and opt for superstars again? The only player we know for sure is joining the club next month is Kepa Arrizabalaga. He’s 23-year-old goalkeeper from Athletic Club. I doubt he’ll be the only one to join – or leave – in January.

As for the Barcelona side of things, they were relatively timid in their celebrations. Maybe a few thought that Madrid would make the title race a thrilling contest. Either way, this weekend turned out to be the perfect Christmas present for the Catalans. Everyone else in the top five lost.

Valverde wins over the last few remaining doubters

Not too surprisingly, the Barcelona-based press are full of praise for Ernesto Valverde. From being labelled a manager who produces effective football, against the grain of Barcelona’s DNA, he continues to show his side is capable of both. The first half showed their defensive steel as Madrid upped the tempo. But after the break, it was free flowing football of the highest order. Intricate passing, superior movement and with a man in the right position to finish off chances.

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It feels somewhat sad that so few of the headlines are about Messi. Are we reaching the point that his spectacular level is expected, so it’s considered a given? If true, what a crime to football that would be. Even with two men marking Leo, all the best chances were created by him. Messi even picked up assist number 200 for Barcelona.

Iniesta played a key role in helping Vermaelen settle down

Something ‘SPORT’ caught was Andres Iniesta barking orders at Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgian defender, who has suffered with an injury crisis worse than Bale’s at Madrid, was a surprise starter. A surprise to neutrals but not to those who have seen him slot in with relative ease following Samuel Umtiti’s layoff.

However, he picked up a yellow card early and was looking nervy. Iniesta could be seen telling him to calm down and get the ball under control. Vermaelen played flawlessly from that moment onward. The Iniesta Factor.

The rest is unfortunately more about criticising Real Madrid than praising Barcelona’s performance. I guess this is the nature of the beast and a common occurrence in modern football. There’s a belief that fans celebrate their rivals losing with more vigour than seeing their own team emerge victorious. I personally don’t get it.

There is a headline which reads: “Madrid want to hide their humiliation with new signings.” Yet if you scroll down a couple of pictures there are two transfer stories linking players to Barcelona as well.

The winter transfer window is coming, folks.