barcelona Player Ratings vs. Real Madrid: Lamine Yamal Fails to Walk the Walk as Flick’s Side Fall in Clasico
Barcelona suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, falling five points behind Los Blancos in the La Liga title race. Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham secured the victory for Madrid, while Barcelona’s attacking threat, spearheaded by a quiet Lamine Yamal, failed to consistently trouble Thibaut Courtois. Hansi Flick’s side also saw Pedri receive a late red card, compounding a frustrating evening.
The match began with controversy as Real Madrid appealed for a penalty when Vinicius Jr. went down under a challenge from Lamine Yamal, but VAR overturned the decision. Shortly after, Mbappe thought he’d opened the scoring with a long-range strike following a Fermin Lopez turnover, onyl to be ruled fractionally offside.
Mbappe did eventually break the deadlock, latching onto a brilliant through-ball from Bellingham and finishing with precision.Barcelona goalkeeper wojciech Szczesny was then forced into crucial saves to deny both Mbappe and Dean Huijsen, keeping the Blaugrana within reach. They capitalized on an Arda Guler error near the Madrid box, with Marcus Rashford setting up Fermin Lopez for the equalizer.
However, Madrid regained the lead before halftime, Bellingham tapping in from a header across the face of goal by Eder Militao. Early in the second half, Eric Garcia conceded a penalty for a handball, but szczesny again proved his worth, saving Mbappe’s spot-kick.
Despite a steadfast effort to find a second equalizer,Barcelona’s limited options from the bench were evident. They struggled to create clear-cut chances to test Courtois,and their mounting frustrations culminated in stoppage time with Pedri’s dismissal after receiving a second yellow card.
GOAL provides a rating of Barcelona’s players from the Santiago Bernabeu: (ratings to follow, as the original article indicates this is where they would be)