Barcelona ended Real Madrid’s 42-game unbeaten run in LaLiga with an emphatic 4–0 win at the Bernabeu in El Classico on Saturday evening. 6 of the starting 11 for Barcelona were La Masia graduates which included Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Marc Casado, Alejandro Balde, Pau Cubarsi and Inaki Pena. Another graduate Gavi also featured off the bench. Barcelona bossed possession, coming away with 59% to Real Madrid’s 41% and also had the most shots (15) and shots on target (7). Despite this, Real Madrid had the most touches in the opposition box with 25 to Barcelona’s 18 as well as the most corners, 10 to Barcelona’s 3, wasteful.

Barcelona’s youngsters absolutely stole the show, Yamal, Casado and Cubarsi were particularly brilliant.

The recently crowned Kopa Trophy winner Yamal was electric all game and gave Real Madrid a torrid time. The Spanish winger became the youngest player to ever score in El Classico, taking his LaLiga G/A to 11 this season. Yamal created 3 chances on Saturday evening, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe created just 2 combined. He also had 6 touches in the opposition box, had 3 shots on target, won possession 5 times, won 2 duels and made 2 tackles.

Marc Casado was phenomenal alongside Pedri and they dominated Real Madrid’s £200M midfield. Casado looked completely unfazed by the occasion of his first El Classico and brilliantly set up Robert Lewandowski for Barcelona’s first goal. That made it 2 assists in 2 games for the young Spaniard after also assisting against Bayern Munich midweek. Casado completed 47/57 passes, created 1 big chance, won 5 duels, made 2 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 clearances and won 3 fouls.

17 year old Cubarsi completely neutralised Real Madrid’s front line. The bravery of the high line and the timing of the offside trap was done to perfection and the gamble definitely paid off. Cubarsi made 3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 block and won 3/5 duels however it wasn’t just his quality when defending that stood out. In possession he made 43/47 passes with a 91% pass accuracy and completed 6/7 long balls. All of that topped off with a clean sheet too.

La Masia have done it again! Every year they just spawn in these incredible youngsters. They play with such maturity and they’re completely fearless, it’s as if they’ve been playing first team football for years. They’re all so comfortable on the ball and can pass or dribble their way out of any difficult situation. We know La Masia have produced some unbelievable talents over the years however we’ve also seen many failed wonderkids come through Barcelona’s ranks. Ibrahim Affelay, Bojan Krkic, Isaac Cuenca, Sergi Samper, Carles Elena, Alen Halilovic, Marc Muniesa and Riqui Puig are just some of the names that spring to mind. With all that being said, this latest crop of La Masia graduates seem destined for greatness.

For Real Madrid, they were woeful. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior were especially poor and Jude Bellingham was awfully quiet.

Kylian Mbappe’s main issue was struggling to stay onside, racking up a staggering 8 offsides in the game, 6 of those were in the first half alone. Real Madrid ended the game with 12 offsides. Barcelona have drawn the most offsides in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season with 77, 38 more offsides than the team with the second most offsides drawn (Brighton with 35). Mbappe had 3 shots on target, 2 big chances missed and had 2 goals disallowed on top of his 1/4 dribbles completed and 1/5 duels won.

Vinicius Junior completed just 1 dribble all game against Barcelona, creating 0 chances, with 1 big chance missed. He also had 67% pass accuracy, 0% cross completion, won 8/17 duels, made 3 fouls and lost possession 15 times. He was also flagged offside 3 times.

Jude Bellingham had just 31 touches all game against Barcelona. Before Saturday evening’s match, Bellingham was averaging 74 touches a game this season. Very quiet for his standards. Bellingham completed just 13 passes, had 1 big chance missed, won 5/11 duels and committed 2 fouls. Bellingham’s output has really dried up of late with the Englishman netting just 6 times for Real Madrid in 2024. This probably has something to do with him dropping back slightly deeper in his more familiar number 8 position as supposed to the 10/False 9 role he played last year.

Real Madrid’s side just lacks balance. They have three left wingers in Vinicius, Mbappe and Rodrygo with two of them having to play in unfavourable positions. Their midfield although talented lacks experience and leadership since Kroos’ retirement. It was clear to see Modric transformed Real Madrid when he came off the bench, creating 2 big chances in just 25 minutes. Modric’s passing range and weight of pass is just top class. Unfortunately the 39 year old just hasn’t got the legs anymore and can’t play two 90 minute games a week. The solution, Arda Gular!

Liverpool made it 10 wins from 11 games this season after their 2–1 victory against Chelsea at Anfield. It was a real tactical battle and evident that both teams deviated from their usual philosophies, presumably cautious of the attacking threat of one another. For Arne Slot’s Liverpool side it’s all about control and they certainly did not have that yesterday. Chelsea clocked 57% possession against The Reds and had a pass completion of 88.1%, the highest opposition pass completion rate ever recorded against Liverpool at Anfield since records begun (2003/2004). It was also Liverpool’s fewest amount of shots at Anfield since 2021, they had just 8. For Chelsea, despite all the possession it felt slow and laboured and they really failed to get numbers forward when they did break out. Compare this to Liverpool who flooded numbers forward every time they entered Chelsea’s half.

One thing that stood out was the quality in the middle of the pitch, for both teams. Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones vs Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo was a fascinating watch. Chelsea set up as a 3-box-3 in possession and a 4–2–4 mid block out of possession, with Lavia anchoring and Caicedo often the free man. Liverpool also set up in a 4–2–4 out of possession with Gravenberch and Jones getting tight to Cole Palmer and the inverting Malo Gusto.

The MOTM was Cutis Jones and rightfully so, he was everywhere! His constant late runs and box crashing killed Chelsea and that’s exactly what he did to get his goal and win his side the penalty. Out of possession Jones won 6/8 duels, made 3 tackles and 6 ball recoveries whilst in possession had 90% pass accuracy, 2 shots on target and 2 chances created. A real thorn in Chelsea’s side.

Ryan Gravenberch just oozes class! His big frame and long limbs makes him a powerful ball carrier but he’s so graceful when he does it, he glides around the pitch. This season Gravenberch has a 92nd percentile for progressive carries, 91st percentile for duel win rate and 88th percentile for forward passes.

It’s unfortunate we only got to see 53 minutes of Romeo Lavia as he works back to full fitness because he was incredible. He’s so calm and composed on the ball, it feels like he didn’t even come out of 2nd gear. Lavia won more duels (6), completed more take-ons (3/3) and made more interceptions (2) than any other Chelsea player in the first half vs Liverpool. He also made more tackles than any of his teammates (2). At just 20 years old with the maturity in his game you’d think he’s a seasoned vet. With impressive performances now against Man City and Liverpool he’s shown he can really mix in with the big boys!

Moises Caicedo once again was exceptional. He’s been putting in those type of performances for the last year now however they all seem to be going under the radar. Caicedo created 1 big chance and got the assist for Jackson’s goal, had 100% dribble success rate, 100% tackle success rate and won 3 fouls. This season he has a 94th percentile for defensive actions, 92nd percentile for duel win rate and 90th percentile for key passes.

It’s not unfair to say the Chelsea pair got the better of Jones and Gravenberch first half however Lavia’s departure and the introduction of Enzo Fernandez changed the game. Although Enzo was tidy on the ball, the big Anfield pitch was too much for his unathletic build and with the physical presence of Gravenberch and the running power of Curtis Jones, they overpowered Chelsea in midfield for the last 30 minutes or so. It felt like Caicedo was in there by himself for large parts of the second half. Overall it was a great watch seeing four exceptional midfielders going toe-to-toe for 90 minutes.