Real With a 3-1 victory in El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, Real Madrid moved three points ahead of Barcelona atop La Liga.
Despite Jules Kounde’s comeback, Real Madrid’s stars were the difference as Barcelona suffered for their defensive missteps.
Real’s first goal came from Karim Benzema after Marc-Andre ter Stegen parried Vinicius Jr.’s attempt into his path.
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With a beautiful 20-yard drive just before halftime, Federico Valverde doubled the champions’ advantage.
Ferran Torres scored Barcelona’s only goal after Robert Lewandowski’s flick-on in 2nd half.
Real Madrid youngster Rodrygo scored a penalty to end the game.
The rivals started the day with seven victories and a tie from their first eight games, but Real now leads by three points as they are still undefeated.
In almost a year as Barcelona’s manager, Xavi had not lost an away La Liga game.
The Catalan coach admits that his team is out of form after the loss, which adds to their recent disappointment in Europe.
Xavi Hernández speaking to the press after the game:
“The feeling is that we are in a negative dynamic. That we are trying. We have faith, self-respect. We are trying.”
“Luckily, it’s three points. It was an opportunity to stay at the top and we’re leaving empty-handed,” he said.
“We had them and we didn’t take advantage of their moments and they defended very well. We have to change the dynamic of nothing going our way.”
Xavi on performance:
“I don’t think we were bad in the first half. We dominated Madrid. I have the feeling that we had our chances,” he said.
“In the second half they were very good. We lacked a lot of decisiveness. If we want to win this type of match, we have to change our mentality.”
“We are not in a positive dynamic. In the end, we showed a lot of self-belief, but it’s not enough. We’re in a bad dynamic.”
Xavi on his teams improvement:
“We were doing very well in LaLiga. At the first transition, we got caught !at 1-0. We are under construction. We need to improve a lot.”
Xavi on Champions League impact:
“I don’t think it had an influence. We had Real Madrid in their area,” he said.
“We had our moments. Real Madrid are in the lead. We’re in a very negative dynamic that we have to change as soon as possible.”
Carlo Ancelotti discussed Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory over Barcelona and the significance of the three points to retake the lead and cap off a fantastic week that included securing a spot in the Champions League’s last 16 stages.
The Italian spoke to the media about his teams performance:
“Everything, we had to play a complete game and we did it. It’s true that the start was good, we took an early lead and we controlled it well in the second half,” he told DAZN.
Ancelotti on his defense:
“It was clear that Militao had to put Lewandowski under pressure, we controlled the players between the lines well with Kroos and Tchouameni.”
Ancelotti on his starting eleven:
“I thought about last season, that I invented something and in this game I tried not to invent and to put the players in their place,” he said.
“I would highlight Modric’s game, who was spectacular against their midfield”
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Ancelotti on his changes:
“Five changes help a lot if you have players on the bench who deserve to be in the starting eleven but you can’t put them all in.
“The game was about putting energy into the midfield with Valverde and waiting and if things didn’t work out we had Rodrygo and Camavinga.”
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