Real Madrid suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of El Clasico this past Sunday night at the Santiago Bernabeu after Barcelona crashed them four goals without a reply. Real Madrid were the league leaders coming into the match having trumped Real Sociedad 4-1 and to add on that, they were just from a victorious week after eliminating PSG from the UEFA Champions League. Xavi Hernandes, the man entrusted with the revival of the Catalan giants saw a run of five consecutive El Clasico defeats come to an end as he oversaw a 4-0 win over their greatest rivals. Two goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and one each from Ronald Araújo and Ferran Torres completed the scoring.

The Stadium was almost silent as the two teams walked off at half time as the game was over before the break. Aubameyang and Araujo had already completed the assignment both assisted by Ousmane Dembele. “We’re back!” Gerard Piqué said post-game and Barcelona produced a performance that suggests he might not be far wrong. Madrid had more to lament. The absence of Karim Benzema had led to Luka Modric being deployed almost as a false nine behind Vinícius and Rodrygo. If Carlo Ancelotti’s plan had been designed to give them more control, it didn’t really work. If his shift to three central defenders at the start of the second half was supposed to bring security that would end up being a still greater failure. Ancelotti made changes coming into the second half but they didn’t work; they just made it worse as two minutes into the second half Torres netted before Aubameyang punished them with the last goal four minutes later. 

Carlo Ancelloti later went on to recognised that he made mistakes that ended up costing the Los Blancos the game. The league leaders remain 12 points ahead of their arch-rivals after the defeat, but the Italian was understandably frustrated with the performance his side put in. He further went ahead to apologise to the fans and committed to the last months of the season and lifting the Champions League trophy.