King Bellingham, Xavi’s losing coaching… The tops and flops of the Clasico

2023-10-28 20:25:38

By Sébastien Vau

Published 13 minutes ago, Updated 1 minute ago

Jude Bellingham shone this Saturday, the complete opposite of Xavi Hernandez. Zuma / Panoramic / Javier Borrego / Alvaro Medranda / Panoramic / Alvaro Medranda

Thanks to a double from Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid won the Clasico in Barcelona (1-2) this Saturday. The Englishman made the decision in stoppage time.

TOPS

Le roi Bellingham

Again and again him. But where will Jude Bellingham stop? The 20-year-old Englishman once again represented Real Madrid this Saturday against FC Barcelona (2-1 victory). However, the midfielder was heavily disrupted in the first half. He delivered a very average score until Luka Modric came into play. The Madrid prodigy unleashed a huge shot from outside the Barcelona area to equalize before delivering Real in the 92nd minute of play on a cross from the Croatian, unfortunately deflected by the Catalan defense. Bellingham ultimately finished this Clasico with 2 goals from 2 shots on target, bringing his total to 13 goals in 13 matches. Extraordinary.

Luka Modric changed everything

Entering the game in the 63rd minute of play, Luka Modric was decisive. The 2018 Ballon d’Or immediately took control of the game and organized the Madrid offensives wonderfully. The presence of Modric transfigured Bellingham, which had been in difficulty until then. The Real No.10 signs the decisive pass on the Englishman’s winning goal, like a symbol. At 38 years old, the midfielder is still dominant in the White House midfield. Irreplaceable.

Read alsoLiga: Bellingham and Real Madrid overthrow FC Barcelona

The Gavi-Fermin Lopez pair, the future of Barça

Gavi (19 years old) and Fermin Lopez (20 years old) showed very good things this Saturday. Despite Barça’s defeat, the two friends were excellent… until Madrid’s equalizer. The Catalans continued to harass and press Real’s midfielders very high, making the match very difficult for Bellingham. A match which quickly turned into a nightmare for Toni Kroos. The two prodigies trained at La Masia are truly the future of the Barcelona midfielder. In the absence of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, Xavi has nothing to worry about, unless they decide to take them out…

FLOPS

Xavi, losing coaching

The Catalan coach is largely responsible for his team’s defeat this Saturday. The former Barça midfielder brought Fermin Lopez out in the 72nd minute of play, very good until then, to bring in Oriol Romeu. At that time, Barça had just suffered an equalizer from Bellingham. As a result of this change, the Blaugrana midfield was significantly weakened. An incomprehensible choice.

Toni Kroos went through hell

Surely the German’s worst match with Real Madrid since the start of the season. Like the already very feverish Madrid defense (especially Rudiger and Alaba), the 33-year-old midfielder went through hell against the young, spirited pair Gavi-Fermin Lopez. Harassed and rushed as rarely, the former Bayern Munich player offered nothing during the meeting, having no impact in the development of his team’s offensives. Replaced in the 63rd minute of play by Luka Modric, the Madrilenian was transparent in this Clasico. A match forgotten for the 2014 world champion.

Vinicius had a very complicated Clasico this Saturday. LLUIS GENE / AFP

Vinicius and Rodrygo missed everything

The two Brazilians experienced a very complicated Clasico. Vinicius has almost failed in everything he has done and Rodrygo has been completely absent from Madrid’s offensives. The Real wisps both shot less than three times on goal and did not get a single shot on target. Starving.

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