The Madrid derby: good for Barça
BarcelonaThe accounts before they are will play the derby at the MetropolitanIt wasn't that, no matter what happened, everything was going well for Barça. The theory was as follows:
1) If Real Madrid won, good for Barça. Because if this ends up being a two-man league, Flick's team already showed last season that they have Madrid's morale undermined in duels. And in the middle of September, half-ruling out an Atlético that, on top of that, would have all the doubts in the world, would be even better.
2) If they drew, good for Barça. Because winning the match against Real Sociedad this Sunday would have closed the gap on Real Madrid and put Atlético further behind.
3) If Simeone's team won, good for Barça. Because a slip-up for Madrid can never be bad news and Atlético didn't seem, for now, to be the most fearsome rival in the national competition.
The accounts after the end of the derby are also all positive for Barça. These are the facts:
1) Xabi Alonso's team continues to melt like sugar, just like Ancelotti's when they come up against an opponent with a face and eyes that push them. No game, no soul. Griezmann's fifth goal shattered the four-goal theory. Because they lost four Clásicos last season, starting with the 4-0 at the Bernabéu in La Liga that defined the season, and they gave them four to finish the Club World Cup without breaking a sweat in the competition that should have served to amend the blank campaign.
2) Neither Mbappé with eight goals, nor Vinícius improving (it wasn't very difficult), nor the return of a Bellingham side light years away from the footballer who marveled in the first season was enough to make up for the defensive disaster and the poor team play. Huijsen devours everything up front, Carreras shrank, and Valverde, who doesn't seem the same, concluded his poor start to the season with the error that led to Atlético's fifth goal. As if that weren't enough, Militao is injured.
3) Atlético have already played their game of the season: beating Madrid. And with a historic result, too: the rojiblancos hadn't scored five goals against their neighbors for 75 years, in the 3-6 win at the Bernabéu in 1950. And yet, their star player, Julián Álvarez, was substituted again. Simeone also has a historical tendency to back down, and in the end, football is for the brave.