It was men against boys – Wenger not impressed with Barcelona after Clasico defeat
Barca were outplayed by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu
Arsene Wenger said yesterday’s El Clasico was “men against boys” and felt Barcelona were ineffective at both ends of the pitch.
Madrid ran out 2-1 winners at the Santiago Bernabeu thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham either side of a Fermin Lopez leveller.
But, in truth, it could have been a lot more emphatic. Mbappe had two goals disallowed, Bellingham one, Mbappe missed a penalty while the home side also had an early spot-kick overturned after Lamine Yamal and Vinicius Jr clashed in the box.
Barca’s central defensive pairing of Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi struggled with Mbappe all afternoon and the champions badly missed the physical presence of the injured Robert Lewandowski in attack.
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Men against boys – Wenger
Former Arsenal boss Wenger, who analysed the game for beIN Sports said: “El Clasico was a bit like a duel of men against boys. Real Madrid’s defence was much stronger than Barcelona’s.
“In attack, Madrid always looked capable of scoring, while Barcelona seemed ineffective. They had a lot of possession, but they never really looked capable of scoring.”
While much of the post-match focus centred on the behaviour of Vinicius Jr and the overall reaction of the Madrid players towards Lamine Yamal, Barca boss Hansi Flick, who had to watch the match from the stands due to a one-game suspension, will have been alarmed by his side’s toothless display.
Araujo – we are sad
Defender Ronald Araujo, who started on the bench but came on after 74 minutes for the outmatched Garcia, admitted there was plenty for the defending champions to work on.
He said: “We are sad to lose the Clasico. There are things to correct and there is a lot of the season left.
“I worry about winning and you have to correct and continue. We have to believe in what they [the coaching staff] tell us, with a lot of confidence and to follow.”
The good news for Barca is they have a full week off to get to work on the training pitch before their next game against Elche on Sunday.