Mou's Madrid leaves Barça with a span of nose

BarcelonaMadrid clipped the wings of Flick's Barça by winning a Clásico that José Mourinho's men took thanks to two goals from Mbappé, the second in the final stages of a frustrating match for Flick's men, who never felt comfortable on the pitch. The players' faces showed anger, aware that the possibility of signing the best start in the entire League was slipping away from them. Mourinho, on the other hand, got his way and leaves reinforced from a stadium where he could have been hurt. But it was not a good game for a too-agitated Barça that was left wanting more in the second half, when at times it seemed they would turn the score around. Quite the opposite. Three minutes from the end, Mbappé left the stadium frozen. And the one who celebrated big was Mourinho.

The most optimistic Barcelona fans should perhaps tattoo a message on their skin to remind them that you can never count Madrid out. A tattoo, or perhaps carving it in stone on a monolith at the stadium entrance. Especially if the coach is José Mourinho, the man who knows how to move through the shadows and play with your nerves, driving you crazy. His Madrid arrived at the Camp Nou like a lamb on the way to the slaughterhouse, but it didn't take long to shed that disguise. Underneath was a wolf that bit the backs of the Barça midfielders and found plenty of space to run and face a Blaugrana defense that was holding on by a thread. Without Eric, without Kounde, and also without Xavi Espart, who got injured in the 30th minute of play. Flick had to call up Balde and switch flanks for a Cancelo who suffered greatly against Diomande.

It was supposed to be the Clásico of the record of 10 wins in the first 10 matchdays of the League. And the duel seemed to tilt even more in their favor when it was learned that Courtois would be out with the flu. The match was supposed to serve to put a foot on Madrid's neck and leave them trembling, but the Whites knew how to read the scenario a little better than a Barça that was too hyped up. The first half was an exchange of blows that seemed to benefit the Madridistas more. Barça ran without much control and luck did not want to help Flick's men either. Just before halftime, Gerard Martín tried to clear a cross from Diomande and the ball bounced off Mbappé's legs, who thus scored one of the strangest goals of his career.

The desire to please and to win took its toll on a strangely inaccurate Lamine Yamal. The player from Mataró was losing balls all on his own and running into another man from the Maresme region, this one dressed in white: Cucurella. The Catalan from Madrid seemed not to hear the insults he was receiving from the stands, focused on defending while taking advantage of the fact that the referee was sparing him a yellow card. Or perhaps he did hear them, but they motivated him.

Little control

Although the first minutes were dominated by the Blaugrana, little by little Madrid began to bring the match onto their own turf, slowing down the pace when necessary and accelerating it to connect with Diomande and Mbappé. Madrid did not miss the suspended Vinicius, quite the opposite. Despite Fermín's grit, Barça could not manage to activate Raphinha. Pedri and Rodri, for once, could not find solutions to shake off an omnipresent Tchouaméni. Mourinho, who was warned by the referee for protesting too much, was getting his way in a first half in which Barça looked like a different team, blurred.

Flick, who could not hide his displeasure at the first half played by his charges, saw that he was facing a team with good players capable of mastering the dark arts, as at halftime, when they took a long time to come out onto the pitch. Every time Flick's team tried to touch the ball, Madrid wasted time. If Barça took risks, the whites could recover and, with fast counterattacks, threaten to score the second goal. The scenario was very dangerous, as Mourinho's teams usually feel comfortable in these scripts. A hero was needed, and that was Raphinha, who with a shot between Bellingham's legs beat Lunin just when he was needed most. The Brazilian was not playing a great game, but he is one of those who never gives up. He is a hard-working man who has ground so much stone to get to where he is now that he never stops for a second. With his goal, the wind changed direction. And Madrid became small in front of a Barça that began to resemble the team from the start of the season more, although the refereeing, permissive with the visitors' fouls, did not help much.

Gerard Martín, with a great header, and Lamine, with a beautiful shot, came close to beating Lunin, while Madrid wasted time and protested as much as they could, such as over a possible handball by Balde that was not one. But just when it seemed that, if anyone was going to score, it would be Barça, on a counterattack Camavinga gifted Mbappé the opportunity to score the winning goal and dress himself as the savior of Madridism. The big week of the trip to Paris and the Clásico ended in the worst way: with a defeat that shows there is still a lot of work to be done. And that titles are not won in October.