It’s over for Barcelona because they lost 2-1 to Real Madrid in the first El Clásico of the season at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium. It was a sad loss. Barça played much better than Madrid in the first half, even though some of their best players were out with injuries. They earned a lot more from the game, but Jude Bellingham’s amazing second half gave Los Blancos all three points in a game they definitely did not deserve to win.

THE FIRST HALF

Barça got off to a great start, mostly because of Xavi Hernández’s initial tactical setup, which made Madrid confused about who had the ball and who didn’t have it early on. This created a lot of space between the lines that the home team could use to their advantage as they used quick, accurate passes to move the ball from back to front and make good offense.

They worked hard early on and scored the first goal after only six minutes. Ilkay Gündogan tried a one-two with Ferran Torres on the edge of the box and never gave up on the play. He won the ball off of David Alaba in the box and calmly passed it under Kepa Arrizabalaga to give the home team the lead.

It took Madrid a while to figure out Barcelona’s formation, but they got the hang of it and started to have some control. However, they were never really a threat to Marc-André ter Stegen in the first 30 minutes. During the first half, Barcelona kept their cool when they had the ball, with young Fermín López at the center of all their good offensive moves. They also stopped Madrid’s biggest threats, in large part because of Ronald Araujo and Gavi’s amazing individual defense.

After halftime, Barça had dominated the first half thanks to a great tactical plan and a number of great individual efforts. The Catalans were in great shape going into the second half. Madrid looked like they had no more ideas and were pretty angry, but they had enough good players on the field and in the bench to turn things around. Would Barcelona keep up the pace, or would Real Madrid respond in the second half?

THE SECOND HALF

Barça almost doubled their lead five minutes into the half before Madrid could even respond. Iñigo Martínez hit the post, and Araujo forced Kepa to make a great save on the rebound. The Blaugrana were determined not to let Madrid get into the game in the early stages of the second half.

Madrid did have a little more of the ball and were more active when they had it and when they didn’t. Jude Bellingham almost had a one-on-one with Ter Stegen, but Gavi stopped the Englishman from shooting by making a spectacular sliding tackle out of nowhere. Real Madrid was only really in trouble at that one point, though, and Barcelona kept the game under control until the hour mark.

With 30 minutes left, Xavi made his first change, bringing on Robert Lewandowski from the bench to replace Ferran Torres and try to score the important second goal for the home team. At the same time, Carlo Ancelotti brought on Luka Modric and Joselu from the bench to try to help a Madrid team that was still lacking in creativity and offensive power.

Ter Stegen had to work hard for the first time all game when Aurélien Tchouameni fired a rocket from outside the box that the Barça goalkeeper had to strong save. But Ter Stegen couldn’t stop the next long-range rocket: Bellingham tried his luck from 30 yards and found the top corner before Ter Stegen could reach it, and with 20 minutes and stoppage time left, the game was tied.

The goal gave the visitors a boost, and they quickly took control of the game. In response to Madrid’s sudden dominance, Xavi sent Oriol Romeu to the Blaugrana middle to add some defensive strength. Soon after, the coach made two attacking changes. Raphinha, who was back from injury, and young Lamine Yamal came on to try to punish Madrid as they started to send more players forward.

After a tough stretch, the home team started attacking again, and Lewandowski and Gavi both came close with shots from a distance. As the game entered the last 10 minutes, Barcelona finally showed signs of attacking life.

In the last few seconds, the game looked very close, and all three points were still up for grabs. However, Madrid came out on top when Luka Modric deflected a cross from Dani Carvajal, and the ball went over Iñigo Martínez’s head and right into the path of Bellingham, who scored his second goal and Madrid’s second.

It was too late for Barcelona to make a return, and the final whistle broke their heartbreaking streak of not losing this season. For 60 minutes, we were the better team and didn’t deserve to lose. But Jude Bellingham is that good, and he keeps getting Madrid out of games they don’t deserve to win.

I’m upset about the outcome, but I’m proud of how Barcelona played given the circumstances. When Araujo, Fermín, and Gavi are fully recovered, this Barcelona team will be able to fight for every award this season.