Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 in a fiery El Clásico, with Xabi Alonso’s tactics praised by Arsène Wenger, highlighting Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham’s roles in securing a vital win.
Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has offered a scathing assessment of Barcelona’s defense following their 2-1 defeat to rivals Real Madrid in the recent El Clásico, highlighting a “simple” tactical instruction from Kylian Mbappé that the Catalan side failed to recognize.
According to reporting from The Real Champs, Wenger credited the victory not only to Real Madrid’s superiority but to the effective, straightforward roles played by star attackers Mbappé and Jude Bellingham.
Arsène Wenger singled out Mbappé’s movement as the key element that exploited Barcelona’s defensive fragility and inexperience.
Speaking with beIN SPORTS (via AS), Wenger broke down the French forward’s specific instruction to his teammates:
“Mbappé said to his midfielders, ‘I will only make runs between the CBs, look at me every time you have the ball.'”
Wenger argued that Barcelona, who lacked maturity due to the absence of experienced players like Iñigo Martínez, failed to counter this basic threat, allowing Real Madrid to appear constantly dangerous.
Summarizing the overall quality difference on the pitch, Wenger concluded that the match felt like a contest of vastly uneven sides, ultimately praising Xabi Alonso’s victorious squad.
“El Clásico was a bit like a duel of men against boys. Real Madrid’s defence was much stronger than Barcelona’s. In attack, Madrid always seemed capable of scoring, while Barcelona seemed ineffective. They had a lot of the ball, but they never seemed really capable of scoring.”
The result leaves Los Blancos five points clear at the top of the La Liga table, underscoring the success of their winning tactics against their fierce rivals.