Barça comes back, wins and thrashes a disjointed Real Madrid
A 2-0 defeat for Barça in 2025 means nothing. That was Real Madrid's score in the 15th minute of El Clásico, but everyone knew what was coming next. It had already happened twice against Inter Milan in the Champions League, and yet Real Madrid suffered the comeback that everyone is talking about and was unable to stop Barça's total football. Eric García, Yamal and Raphinha left the Whites reeling and sunk.
The Whites themselves had a lot to do with those three goals. Two incomprehensible gifts on the ball exposed a team in which every player is fighting his own battle. Lucas Vázquez was one of those singled out, but the head-on collision between Ceballos and Mbappé in midfield was the culmination of poor planning at all levels throughout the season.
Barça took advantage of every mistake and scored the fourth goal in the second half. Everything seemed to indicate that another heavy defeat would sink Real Madrid, but Mbappé scored the fourth goal to salvage some pride for a team that has fallen apart over the course of the season.
The Frenchman and Vinicius have found nothing in common that makes the team better. Rodrygo has resigned from the right wing and Bellingham is an ineffective grinder who spends too much time sweeping the field without hardly ever entering the area.
Ancelotti has not worked with the team this season to come up with something new after the arrival of Mbappé and the departure of Kroos. He has only changed players, making it clear to everyone that the substitutes would never be starters. Those who have earned a place have done so by force. Asencio due to injuries, Ceballos after a good run of victories until his injury, and Arda Güler once Rodrygo disappeared.
There has been no more Real Madrid this season, to the point that Lucas Vázquez is now a player willing to attempt impossible moves with limited quality that result in gross errors.
Real Madrid has dissolved in its own anti-football, and Barça has grown exponentially with Flick and the duo of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha. Their joyful football allows them to thrash Madrid at will and leave an indelible mark on Europe, which they failed to manage against a very experienced Inter.
La Liga belongs to Barça, but Real Madrid has a tortuous road ahead. The Club World Cup they didn't want to play is now a decisive objective. There is a lot of money at stake, a depleted squad that doesn't know how to play and a coach who already has his bags packed.
Florentino Pérez did not want to make any signings after the injuries. Either there was no money or he knows that going to the market in need means doubling the price of any player. Now a very short summer is coming because the Club World Cup ends in mid-July and pre-season should start a few days later.
It's a complicated knot to untangle, including the snubbing of Raúl González, who will also leave Castilla without fulfilling his dream of coaching the first team after six seasons.
Good times at Camp Barça. Their football is cleaning up the mess of a club mired in debt and mud. Bad times for the Whites, who, as always, are clinging to another unexpected title so that the season isn't as disastrous as their football.
