Mbappé falls into Hansi Flick's trap: how FC Barcelona crushed Real Madrid

Mbappé did more harm than good in his first Clásico and fell into Barça's trap... eight times.
Text: Javier Escribano
Published 2024-10-28

The first 'Clásico' of the season ended 0-4 to FC Barcelona, certifying a return to the highest form for Barça and the start of a new golden age with Hansi Flick: four goals to Bayern, four goals to Real Madrid in one week.

While the match seemed to be even in the first half, with Real Madrid circling Iñaki Peña's goal, the truth is that all was part of Flick's plan: all four Barça defenders were dangerously far from their goal, but perfectly coordinated to cancel all chances of Madrid to score by leaving them offside.

Mbappé scored twice in the match, but both goals were cancelled as he was offside. In total, Real Madrid was offside 12 times, eight of them by Mbappé, unacceptable numbers for a striker of his calibre, who was seen hopeless as most attempts were disallowed.

With desperation came mistakes. Barça seized opportunity to counterattack and found a defence fragile, leaving enormous opportunity for Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal to hammer Madrid. It felt like Andriy Lunin, filling for Thibaut Courtois injury, could have done more, but in the last 30 minutes Real Madrid was completely broken, wishing for the whistle to end the suffering and avoid a punishment that could have been much worse.

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