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What a performance by FC Barcelona. The Catalans duped their arch-rivals. And that’s what Real Madrid are feeling from the Spanish media as well. There is also praise for Barça from a Bayern professional.
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Madrid – The dismantling by the resurrected FC Barcelona was followed by the ruthless reckoning for Real Madrid. Coach Carlo Ancelotti took the blame and apologized for the performance, with the Spanish media dissecting Los Blancos, who are playing all-black this time.
“Black night”, it was emblazoned on the front page of the sports newspaper “As”, in the background the former world footballer Luka Modric and the former world champion Toni Kroos with hanging heads and frustrated looks.
Ancelotti: “I failed in this game”
0:4 – four goals in the marrow of Madrilenians. The first defeat in the Clásico in six duels. And then like that, at home in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. “Sometimes you do it right, sometimes you fail. I failed in this game,” said Real coach Ancelotti, who surprised with some personnel decisions and a switch to a three-man defense when the deficit was 0-2 after the break: “But I’m not going to make a big drama out of it.” He doesn’t, others do. “Ancelottis Harakiri”, wrote “As”: “The Italian gambles away a lot of credit.”
Where there’s a big loser, there’s a big winner. And in addition to the entire FC Barcelona team, he was above all coach Xavi Hernandez. “In the last Clásico under our new coach, we already knew that we were coming back,” said Barça captain Sergio Busquets.
They lost the game in the Supercup 2:3 after extra time in January and thus conceded the fifth Clásico defeat in a row. “We’re evolving,” Busquets said. “We’re back,” tweeted Gerard Piqué. “A proud evening at the Bernabéau,” wrote national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen.
“FC Barcelona is back in business”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave FC Barcelona the lead in the 29th minute. Ronald Araujo (38′) scored before the break, before Ferran Torres (47′) shortly after the break dashed the home fans’ hopes that the hosts would rally on Sunday evening. With his second goal (51st), former BVB professional Aubameyang sealed the triumph of the Catalans in the never-ending duel between the two top Spanish clubs.
Real is still clearly ahead in the table with 66 points. Second is Sevilla FC with 57 points. Then come FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, both with 54 points. Nine matchdays are still to come and Barcelona also have a catch-up game – 30 points are up for grabs at most.
“Dreams are free,” said Barça’s 38-year-old defender Dani Alves after a performance by the financially stricken FC Barcelona, which not only the upcoming Europa League opponent Eintracht Frankfurt should have noticed impressed. “Congratulations FC Barcelona. It was a pleasure to see this great performance tonight,” tweeted Thomas Müller from German record champions FC Bayern Munich.
“It’s official: FC Barcelona is back in business,” wrote former England international Gary Lineker. The last time there was a 4-0 in the Clásico in Madrid was in November 2015. Most recently, the Catalans had lost the duel with Real five times in a row. “Barça is desecrating the Bernabéu like in the old days,” said “Sport”.
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