Vinicius Jr went missing and Real Madrid turned in a spirited yet ineffective performance against Barcelona, losing 2-0 and watching their rivals lift the league trophy in the process. Los Blancos were outplayed throughout, and could never recover from an early deficit in a game that more or less summed up the massive gulf in quality between the two teams.
Madrid struggled to find a foothold early on. Although they had their moments on the ball, Barca dominated most of the proceedings. And the home side were good value for their opener. Antonio Rudiger fouled Ferran Torres on the edge of the box, and Marcus Rashford stepped up and whipped the ensuing free kick into the top corner. It got worse shortly afterwards as Dani Olmo laid off to Torres, who lashed home to make it 2-0 inside 20 minutes.
Otherwise, this was much a game of spells. Madrid had plenty of moments here and there, and were dangerous on the break – but the material results were admittedly limited. They were, in fact, caught chasing shadows for long periods, the diminutive midfield duo of Pedri and Gavi dominating the middle of the park. The Blaugrana, meanwhile, kept Vinicius remarkably quiet.
And that was more or less it. Bellingham came closest in the second half when he put the ball into the net – only to see the flag raised for offside. Joan Garcia didn’t have a save to make. They deserve some credit, to be sure, for showing some fight after a miserable week. But this was otherwise a limp showing against a team who thoroughly outclassed them. To wrap it off, they had to suffer the indignity of watching their biggest rivals secure the title against them.
GOAL rates Real Madrid’s players from Spotify Camp Nou…
