• Kylian Mbappé scored on 41 and 87 minutes, either side of Raphinha’s equaliser, to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win at the Camp Nou
• Madrid parked their block in midfield against Barcelona’s 3-2-5, and Marc Cucurella showed Lamine Yamal down the line all night
• Bernardo Silva, a surprise starter, found space centrally for the opener, before Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga broke Barcelona’s offside trap for the winner
• Barcelona were without Jules Koundé and Eric García and lost Xavi Espart to injury, while Madrid played without Vinícius Júnior and Thibaut Courtois
• Barcelona’s perfect start of nine LaLiga wins is over, and Madrid are now within three points of Hansi Flick’s leaders

Barcelona’s first defeat of the season came in the Champions League, a 4-2 loss to PSG at the Parc des Princes, but it also subtly showed the frailties Real Madrid would surely have been rehearsing to exploit. José Mourinho’s side, six points behind, had to win this one to keep themselves within spitting distance of their arch rivals in Laliga, and with Jules Koundé, Eric García and Andreas Christensen all missing, the hosts were lighter than usual in defence. Madrid had absences of their own, Vinícius Júnior suspended after his red card against Villarreal and Thibaut Courtois missing the game through illness, Andriy Lunin starting in goal.

Madrid park the bus in midfield

Barcelona had comfortable possession for long periods, but progressing into the final third was not so comfortable. Real Madrid parked their shape in the middle of the pitch as soon as the hosts assumed their attacking shape, Barcelona shifting from their 4-3-3 base into a 3-2-5, and Hansi Flick’s side hadn’t yet pushed a sixth player forward, as they usually do, to overload the spaces between the Madrid defenders. Arda Güler regularly took up an auxiliary right-back position to support Federico Valverde on that flank and inside.

Barcelona weren’t passing and moving as frequently as we have seen this season either. Their push-and-pull tactic, one midfielder half-advancing into the half-space or centre, only to release a third man, normally Raphinha, beyond the back line with a diagonal pass from the original carrier, didn’t materialise nearly enough.

Marc Cucurella largely kept Lamine Yamal at bay, pushing him against the touchline whenever he received the ball wide and never showing him inside. That also stopped Yamal picking out his teammates, because he didn’t have the time to take, scan and execute some of the outrageous passes he is already known for. It just hadn’t clicked for Barcelona.

Mbappé Pounces

And Madrid took the lead on 41 minutes when, as was eventually inevitable, a player received the ball in the centre of the pitch with no pressure on him. This time it was Bernardo Silva, who lofted the ball forward for Cucurella, and the move found Yan Diomandé on the left wing. Diomandé drove at the Barcelona goal, then used the outside of his foot to fizz the ball across the area of uncertainty.

Gerard Martín half-attempted a clearance at his near post, and Kylian Mbappé, anticipating the pass into that area like any elite striker, poached it with his shin, a fortunate but brilliant finish for 0-1. Barcelona had also lost Xavi Espart to injury, Alejandro Balde coming on after 31 minutes and João Cancelo switching to right-back, and Madrid led at half-time, matching Barcelona’s pace in the game up to that point.

Barcelona were level on 61 minutes. In the second phase of a Barcelona corner, Pedri took three Madrid players out with a feint and swivel on the edge of the box, and Raphinha met it first time inside the area, driving low through Jude Bellingham’s legs and deceiving Lunin for 1-1. Mourinho responded straight away, Denzel Dumfries replacing Valverde, who had been feeling his right leg since the first half.

For the first 20 minutes of the second half the game became much more end to end than the first. Flick sent on Frenkie de Jong for Fermín, an interesting change, De Jong playing in the central attacking midfield position in the press but very much part of the midfield three’s push-and-pull in possession. Balde, meanwhile, provided pace in transition and recovery, a positive showing from a left-back who has been frozen out. Mourinho eventually replaced Bernardo Silva with Eduardo Camavinga, the Portuguese having put in exactly the shift he was brought into the team for, despite the surprise at his inclusion. Flick’s final changes were Gabriel Jesus and Karim Adeyemi for Anthony Gordon and Raphinha.

Mbappé Wins It

Madrid’s winner, on 87 minutes, couldn’t have been more dramatic. Bellingham swivelled on the half-turn and nutmegged Rodri on halfway, Barcelona didn’t hold their offside trap, and Camavinga ran beyond it. Pau Cubarsí got back, but the French midfielder somehow got through the recovery to get the ball across to Mbappé, who finished for his second and the winning goal, a lightning attack. Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid, a typical Mourinho set-up, executed to near perfection on the night.

What the manager’s said

Mourinho called it “a great game, of a high level”, between “two teams who played to win”. He praised his players’ organisation in playing out from the back against a strong press, said Madrid had chances to make it 2-0 before the break, and insisted that “at 1-1 we never lost our calm”. He saved his criticism for the officials, saying the VAR “was asleep in the 60th minute” and that it was “a clear red card from João Cancelo on Diomandé”.

Pedri didn’t hide from Barcelona’s display. “Overall we didn’t play a great game,” he said. “We were very slow, we had a lot of silly losses of possession, and against this team you pay for it.”

Hansi Flick was just as candid, admitting after his side’s first league defeat of the season that he was “not satisfied” with what he had seen from Barcelona.

Verdict on Barcelona & Real Madrid

This was a typical Mourinho setup, executed to near perfection on the night. Madrid let Barcelona have the ball where it didn’t hurt them, parked their block in the middle of the pitch, showed Yamal down the line and waited for a free man in the centre. When it came, they were ruthless, and when Barcelona’s offside trap broke late on, Camavinga and Mbappé made them pay.

For Barcelona, two defeats in six days have exposed the frailties PSG first found in Paris, and with Koundé, García and now Espart missing, the back line is stretched thin. Their perfect LaLiga start is over, Madrid are within three points and Atlético are just two behind. Is this the week the title race really began?

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