The 247 edition of El Clásico, held on Sunday, was a reflection of what Barcelona means today: a giant in a tailspin. The culé team fell at home 1-2 against Real Madrid and with this they stacked four consecutive defeats against their staunch rival for the first time since 1965 (that time there were seven merengues triumphs since 1962).
With this fall, which also hit their pride, Barca has fallen behind to ninth place in LaLiga with only four wins out of nine possible and disappointing draws against teams from the lower part such as Granada and Cádiz, which is why they are out of positions in continental competitions and below much smaller payroll clubs such as Betis, Osasuna and Rayo Vallecano.
Barca was slightly superior to Madrid in terms of ball possession with 51.6%, although they only managed two shots on target against five from their rival. In fact, the only goal culé fell until minute 96 by Sergio Agüero; previously, the meringues went ahead with goals from David Alaba from 31 ‘and Lucas Vázquez to 92’.
Barcelona’s last victory in a league classic was on March 2, 2019, which encompassed a six-game streak without falling. However, Madrid won both games in 2020 and those in 2021, as well as a draw in the second half of 2019.
The record is not good at all for the culé coach, Ronald Koeman, who has been in charge in the last three defeats, becoming the second to reach at least that number of lost classics in the entire history of Barcelona, since the first It was Patrick O’Connell with four falls between December 1935 and June 1936.
The public demonstration against these results was present in the stands against Real Madrid, where 86,422 spectators attended, representing 87% of the total capacity of the Camp Nou, even though the Catalan authorities already allow 100%. This has been the lowest entry to a league classic since April 30, 1988, but at that time the merengue team had already resolved the LaLiga championship.
This drop in assists was also felt in the Champions League, against Dynamo Kiev on matchday 3, when 45,968 fans entered (46% from Camp Nou), the lowest figure since December 6, 2011 against BATE Borisov from Belarus, which only 36,452 attended.
The disagreement passed the stands and stalked Ronald Koeman when he left the Camp Nou in his private car after the defeat of El Clásico 247. A crowd of fans from the Catalans waited for him at the start throwing insults and light blows to the car, which generated a immediate reaction at the club: “FC Barcelona publicly condemns the violent and contemptuous actions that our coach has experienced when leaving the Camp Nou. The club will take security and disciplinary measures so that such unfortunate events do not happen again, ”he issued on his social networks.
One of the strongest questions from the fans about Koeman’s work is the offense, since they only have 15 goals in favor, less than Sevilla (16) or Rayo Vallecano (17), for example, and also because the reinforcements in That position, Memphis Depay, Sergio Agüero and Luuk De Jong, have not yet exploded their potential, since between the three they add just six goals in nine games; in contrast, Karim Benzema and Vinícius Junior have contributed 18 for Real Madrid.
For its part, the merengue team only achieved the leadership of LaLiga for a few hours, as Real Sociedad snatched it from them by getting a tie at two on their visit to Atlético de Madrid. The San Sebastián team continues to surprise with their six victories in 10 games, followed by Real Madrid, Sevilla, Atlético and Betis in the top 5. The Spanish championship will resume with a double match between Tuesday and Thursday.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx