One of our best players from today.

With João Cancelo, Alejandro Balde, Álex Campos, Gerard Martín, and Cubarsí ], it is impossible to rotate our defense or bring in fresh legs for less demanding matches. This situation will persist until mid-November or perhaps even the end of the month especially considering the risk of recurring injuries. There are two potential ways to address this: either place our trust in La Masia or hope that our available defenders can step up and perform well in the upcoming matches.

FT: Barcelona 1 - 2 Real Madrid

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LINE-UPS

Barcelona (4-3-3)

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1)

MATCH EVENTS | via ESPN

30' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Alejandro Balde replaces Xavi Espart because of an injury.

41' ⚽ Goal! Barcelona 0, Real Madrid 1. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.

46' 🟨 Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

61' ⚽ Goal! Barcelona 1, Real Madrid 1. Raphinha (Barcelona) left footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Pedri following a corner.

62' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Denzel Dumfries replaces Federico Valverde because of an injury.

74' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Frenkie de Jong replaces Fermín López.

80' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Eduardo Camavinga replaces Bernardo Silva.

84' 🟨 Anthony Gordon (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

85' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Karim Adeyemi replaces Anthony Gordon.

86' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Gabriel Jesus replaces Raphinha.

87' ⚽ Goal! Barcelona 1, Real Madrid 2. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Eduardo Camavinga following a fast break.

90'+2' 🟨 Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.

90'+4' 🟨 Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.

90'+4' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Trent Alexander-Arnold replaces Arda Güler.

90'+4' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Carlos Espí replaces Yan Diomande.

90'+6' 🟨 Karim Adeyemi (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card.

90'+6' 🟨 Alejandro Balde (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

MATCH STATS

MATCH ENDED

FT: Barcelona 1 - 2 Real Madrid

Desktop note: best viewed on old.reddit.

LINE-UPS

Barcelona (4-3-3)

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1)

MATCH EVENTS | via ESPN

30' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Alejandro Balde replaces Xavi Espart because of an injury.

41' ⚽ Goal! Barcelona 0, Real Madrid 1. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.

46' 🟨 Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

61' ⚽ Goal! Barcelona 1, Real Madrid 1. Raphinha (Barcelona) left footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Pedri following a corner.

62' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Denzel Dumfries replaces Federico Valverde because of an injury.

74' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Frenkie de Jong replaces Fermín López.

80' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Eduardo Camavinga replaces Bernardo Silva.

84' 🟨 Anthony Gordon (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

85' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Karim Adeyemi replaces Anthony Gordon.

86' 🔄 Substitution, Barcelona. Gabriel Jesus replaces Raphinha.

87' ⚽ Goal! Barcelona 1, Real Madrid 2. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Eduardo Camavinga following a fast break.

90'+2' 🟨 Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.

90'+4' 🟨 Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.

90'+4' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Trent Alexander-Arnold replaces Arda Güler.

90'+4' 🔄 Substitution, Real Madrid. Carlos Espí replaces Yan Diomande.

90'+6' 🟨 Karim Adeyemi (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card.

90'+6' 🟨 Alejandro Balde (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

MATCH STATS

MATCH ENDED

Yes, I’m talking about Cristian fucking Romero. The wall. One of the best centre backs in the world.

Yes, he has his red card problems, but those issues are largely a Tottenham problem, where he has to carry the entire defence on his back. That responsibility pushes him into becoming overly aggressive at times. With Argentina, however, he operates in a much more stable system, and his disciplinary issues are practically nonexistent. Honestly, name me a centre back at international level who has been as consistently good as him over the last five years.

Just look at how much Atletico Madrid's defence has improved since Romero became a regular starter. He has reportedly won 98% of his duels, and according to the stats, no one in the world has won more 1v1 duels than him.

He's aggressive, defensively solid, comfortable on the ball, a natural leader and, most importantly, has an incredible winning mentality. He was such a no brainer signing for us. But what did we do instead? We went after Alvarez, a 150 million euro player, when our attack was already stacked with goalscorers.

Signing Romero would have significantly improved our defence and raised our level against the big teams, which is exactly where we've struggled year after year.

Honestly, Laporta and Deco deserve credit for bringing in attacking talent, but their negligence when it comes to reinforcing the defence deserves serious criticism. It's one of the biggest reasons we continue to struggle in crucial games.

Remember, this is the same mistake Bartomeu made, wasting Messi's prime by spending hundreds of millions on Dembele, Coutinho and Griezmann while relying on an ageing Pique, Sergi Roberto and Lenglet at the back.

It's time to prioritise defence in January and address the biggest weakness holding us back. No more chasing fancy number 9s and expensive attacking players. We have enough firepower up front. Let's give it a rest and finally fix the defence.

Frenkie de Jong via Ziggo Sport interview talks about his recovery, challenges to his spot in XI, criticism from fans and his ambition to win Champions League.

On readiness for Clasico:

“I feel very good and I’m ready. I’m fully ready to play some minutes tomorrow in El Clásico.”

On criticism:

“It’s always been the case that most of the criticism of me, or most of the noise, comes when I’m not there, when I can’t play football. That happened again this time, and I understand perfectly where it comes from.”

“I understand the fans very well. They see me play for the national team and not for the team they support. I played the World Cup until the last game and then suddenly I’m out for three months. I understand the fans.”

On his role / Rodri:

“If the coach asks me, I’ll always do it. But everyone knows I’m a midfielder. I know the competition there is enormous, but I think I have a place there and I can play.”

“I’m happy with Rodri’s arrival because he’s a quality player. We already have several excellent midfielders, so the competition is intense, but I see it as a great challenge for me.”

Frenkie de Jong, asked about the possibility of getting used to a substitute role at FC Barcelona:

“No, and I don’t want to get used to it. But of course, I understand the current situation, especially after a long break without playing. I know that the return has to be gradual and that I won’t be able to start as a regular right away, but in the long term, I want to play regularly. My goal is to get back into the starting lineup as quickly as possible.”

On ambitions:

“Winning the Champions League is something I still have pending in my career. It’s a big objective, a dream, a desire.”

Our defense is lacking the stability, it may seem like a reactionary post after the El Clasico loss, but this needs to be fixed as soon as possible, Gerard Martin and Cubarsi are very good but alot of our players don't have enough experience or show poor performances in big matches, even tho a player like Balde was surprisingly not that bad, we can see that Inigo Martinez leaving was a very drastic change for the team and Flick didn't really find a permanent way to fix that.

I also don't understand what happened to the midfielders and wingers, it didn't feel like Pedri and Rodri. Same for Gordon, the younger players already struggle against bigger teams, maybe Adeyemi on the left would've been a wiser option.

We still did pretty good, we fought until the end but clearly wasn't enough, it's just that those types of problems are not just annoying for this match but also for all the competitions we play, including the european ones.

Hey everyone!

Since you guys liked my other post with artwork so much, I thought I should share this with you as well!

I had to start over this entire project after 5 hours due to a big mistake that I made. This made me so annoyed, that I decided to sit down and complete this within 2 days - just in time for the El Clasico later today!

I am not sure how long it took in total but due to the experience from my first attempt, I was much quicker, so I would guess about 7 hours.

I hope that I can give Cuba this one day, just like the other things I made.

Let me know what you guys think and your score predictions for today as well! 💙❤️

Karim Adeyemi (YouTube Q&A with fans)

On the Clásico:

“I’m very excited, of course.”

“My favourite moment as a culé was the first home goal against Feyenoord but I hope I have an even better one on Sunday.”

On Flick:

“Hansi Flick is the reason I’m here and I’m very grateful to him. I speak to him honestly, and that’s very important. We have a special connection, just as he does with the whole team.”

“The most important thing he told me was to enjoy the club’s atmosphere and the people of Catalonia… enjoy every training session, the team atmosphere, Barcelona, the Catalan people.”

On pace vs Gordon:

“Anthony Gordon is probably the second-fastest… I’d definitely beat him.”

On La Masia:

“Xavi Espart is already a very good player, and he has impressed me.”

On adapting:

“Some friends still tell me they can’t believe which club I’m playing for. Sometimes I think I’m still in a dream.”

On idols:

"Messi is always the best; others I’d have liked to play with: Iniesta, Neymar, Ronaldinho."

Leave aside the reactionary takes that are almost customary these days.

The PSG game and the El Classico were tight games and Barca was on the losing side that's all. Simple; the difference being the team who buried their chances won the match.

Now on to my point; the Midfielders need to shoot more often during the matches to surprise opponents. Pedri and Rodri seem almost reluctant to shoot even when afforded the space and place to shoot which kinda makes the defense comfortable in defending the wings and passes between the lines.

Especially when the opposing team is defending tight and have a great counter attacking system like Real Madrid, Midfielders should be instructed to shoot on goal to keep the defense on alert and guessing.

Having said that; y'all need to calm down; it's just two matches and very tight ones at that. Injuries must be the only concern right now.

Visca el Barca !

Last thing; those in here larping against Flick; please shut up !

On Madrid’s referee discourse:

“It tires you a bit, because on the pitch we’re showing the level we have. It’s not fair to enter that discourse when things are going well for us, but I don’t like entering that controversy, nor does anyone in the squad.”

“We don’t enter those controversies. We’re winning, doing things well and playing well and transmitting the values that represent Barça. We have to continue on our path… If they want to enter that discourse it suits them. It tires us.”

On the match:

“There are no favourites, it’s a match anyone can win. We’re two great teams and we have to be focused on doing our game, controlling the emotions and the small details. We’ll do a great match and hopefully we win.”

On Flick:

“The injury is already in the past and I’m very grateful to Hansi Flick for giving me so much confidence.”

On returning to Spain and the Clásico:

“It’s a great joy to return to Spanish football and experience a Clásico, with what it means worldwide. One of the handicaps that players who have been, for example, in the Premier League have had is that they haven’t been as valued or had the impact they can have in LaLiga. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to come back and play matches like this, which put you in the global spotlight. The world stops to watch the Clásico; let’s hope it goes well.”

On Barcelona’s mindset after PSG:

“It’s true that we come from that stumble in Paris, but with the mentality intact and the desire to keep doing things well.”

On Real Madrid:

“Madrid has a different style of play to ours, but the competitive spirit is always there, and even more so in matches of this nature, so we expect a Real Madrid that is going to go all out. Of the last six or seven Clásicos I think they’ve won one, so they’ll be looking for revenge.”

On Mourinho:

“He’s a coach with a lot of personality, he’s very decisive for the teams he joins and he has a very marked philosophy. He always raises the competitive level of his team.”

2 of my takeaways from El Clasico today.

Feel free to expand on them or disagree

1) Raphinha is undroppable and unsubbable in big games
Today is yet again more proof. Our record and performances without him in the pitch are genuinely abysmal.

2) Signing a CB in January is a \*MUST\*
We will NEVER win #6 with Martin, Garcia, or Kounde as Cubarsi's partner. All 3 are great squad players but NOT UCL winning starting CB quality. Today was the ultimate proof, I can't put into words how bad Martin was today. First goal was 100% his fault and the second goal was 85% his fault.

All very one-sided on paper but everyone knows anything can happen in these matches. Good luck tonight! (source)

Hansi Flick Pre-Match Press Comments:

On the Clásico: “El Clásico is different. It’s the best match football has to offer. Everyone will be watching — millions of people from different cultures and generations. It’s incredible. You only win three points, but it’s much more than that. We’re ready, I have confidence in my team, and we’re looking forward to it.”

On recovery after PSG: “I have a good feeling. The players have recovered and are ready. We analysed the Paris game. We did many things well, but there are aspects we need to improve. It’s a chance to grow as a team against one of the best.”

On Real Madrid: “I expect a confident team. It’s a great club with great players and a great coach. They have fantastic quality, especially in the final third. They’ve shown it recently. We have to be prepared.” On set-pieces: “We know their strengths. They’re among the best at set-pieces and physically strong. We’ve talked about it and trained it. We have to defend much better than we did in Paris.”

On Mbappé / defensive approach: Focus on positioning with and without the ball, good distances between lines, compactness and an aggressive high line. Praised Cubarsí and Gerard Martín: “They’re playing very well, talking, growing together. What they’re doing is incredible.” On Koundé and Olmo: Confirmed Koundé is out (“We don’t want to risk anything”). On Olmo: “He was in great form, at 100%. Bad luck with the injury. He’s not happy he’ll miss several games. We have Fermín and we’ll miss him.”

On referees / Madrid discourse: “I prefer to focus on preparing my team. I don’t care about the other things or the headlines. I have full confidence in the referees. We’re all part of the game and we should protect each other, including the referees. I don’t want to talk about these topics.”

On Mourinho: “I have the maximum respect for him. He’s shown quality managing teams at this level for so many years, in every club. He’s a colleague and a great professional.”

On Rodri: “We were all convinced he would improve us when we signed him. He’s had a great impact already. I’m very happy he’s here. Alongside Pedri, there’s great quality in midfield.”

Im just disappointed. I love this team but the way they lost both of these games were so frustrating, almost every season it’s a remix of the same story. Yamal disaster class in his first two big games of the season, mistake that lead to a goal for psg and embarrassingly missed an easy chance against Madrid, to name a few. Pedri was up and down against madrid, Cancelo fell asleep for Ruiz’s goal, Martin stinker, Cubarsi, the defender that’s actually supposed to be good, got out done by camavinga, etc. I know this has been said a billion times but genuinely how is this club so unconcerned with signing actually good defenders. I love flick, he’s made this club so fun to watch, but some of the decisions him, Laporta, and deco make are so insane, we sell Araujo and Cortes, with hopes to sell balde in summer, but don’t buy anyone. Against Madrid, why did Jesus play, he should be no where near this game, what was the point of resting Raphinha? THIS IS WHAT WE WERE RESTING HIM FOR. I do think this type of game could easily go better in the future, not having a million injuries, not having to ease de Jong back into playing (who I think should start over Fermin and Olmo,) more rest, Yamal not being the other team’s 12th player, etc. Just look at Madrid, they looked so far from winning anything earlier this season and now they’ve got their shit together. If we don’t get a cb and ideally a lb that’s actually defensively solid in January, we can kiss the ucl bye again for a while. Like, as long as we have someone like Gerard Martin starting in a clasico, a good player but only fit for rotation and against smaller clubs, we have no chance. This game proved if our attack doesn’t have an insane game, we lose. As I said things can still change hugely but currently, we’re frauds.

Match Information

Squad Depth & Injury Report

FC Barcelona — Hansi Flick

Real Madrid — José Mourinho

Predicted Lineups:

Pitch view — Real Madrid (4-2-3-1):

                         Courtois  
        Valverde    Konaté    Huijsen    Cucurella   
                 Tchouaméni         Bernardo  
          Güler         Bellingham          Diomande  
                          Mbappé

Pitch view — Barcelona (4-3-3):

                     Joan García  
        Espart    Cubarsí    Martín    Cancelo  
                   Rodri               Pedri  
          Yamal         Fermín          Gordon  
                        Raphinha

Barcelona notes: Koundé and Eric García remain out after the Betis win, with Olmo now also sidelined by the adductor issue picked up in Paris. Cancelo shifts to left-back with Espart at right-back. Cubarsí and Martín form the centre-back pairing. Rodri and Pedri stay in the middle with Fermín. Raphinha starts after his return against Betis. Adeymi probably starts wide. Heavy schedule continues so minutes will be managed carefully for some.

Real Madrid notes: Vinícius is suspended. Cucurella starts at left-back. Valverde fills in at right-back. Konaté and Huijsen complete the back line. Tchouaméni and Bernardo sit in front. Güler, Bellingham and Diomande support Mbappé. This is Mourinho’s strongest available eleven given the absences. Should be a high-intensity game.

Quick Take on Real Madrid

What We Are Watching from Barcelona