Barça have 62% of the ball and 18 shots, but Madrid's ten are worth more: Mbappé scores off Gerard Martín's clearance and into an empty net at 87', and the perfect league start ends at nine.
The numbers
| FC Barcelona | Real Madrid | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 62% | 38% |
| Shots | 18 | 10 |
| Shots on target | 6 | 5 |
| xG | 1.19 | 1.94 |
| Big chances | 2 | 4 |
| Touches in opp. box | 36 | 24 |
| Corners | 6 | 6 |
Result the chances deserved: FC Barcelona 23% / 22% / Real Madrid 55% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
FC Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García, Espart, Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Cancelo, Rodri, Pedri, Yamal, Fermín, Gordon, Raphinha.
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Lunin, Valverde, Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Tchouaméni, Güler, Bellingham, Diomande, Mbappé.
Real Madrid subs: Dumfries (62', Valverde), Camavinga (80', Bernardo Silva), Alexander-Arnold & Carlos Espí (90+4', Güler & Diomande).
Booked (FotMob): Tchouaméni (46'), Gordon (84'), Huijsen (90+2', dissent), Mbappé (90+4', dissent), Balde (90+4'), Adeyemi (90+6', dissent); Goal's card list has Cucurella instead of Huijsen. No red cards. Espart went off at 30' after a collision with Tchouaméni (SI); Cancelo moved to right-back and Balde came on at left-back, and Balde was the only senior defender on the bench, with Koundé and Eric García injured since the Betis game and Christensen out since before the international break (SI, club report). De Jong returned from injury. Madrid started Lunin because Courtois had flu, and Vinícius Júnior was suspended (club report, Opta Analyst). Around 56' Cancelo stood on Diomande's leg; Madrid wanted a red card, none was shown, and Mourinho said VAR "was asleep" (Real Madrid report, Sky Sports). Opta Analyst describes Camavinga breaking down the right before the winner; the Real Madrid report says he got past Cubarsí, which puts him on Barça's right, as the animation shows. Goal minutes: FotMob, ESPN and Sky Sports; the Barça report has the opener at 43' and the Real Madrid report has the winner at 88'. Line-ups, positions, subs, xG, possession, shots and box touches: FotMob. Shots on target, big chances and corners: LiveScore. Attendance 62,055 (FotMob, club report).
Key moments, move by move
- Madrid work it down their left, Barça's right, through Bernardo Silva, Cucurella and Diomande.
- Diomande crosses low into the six-yard area, where Gerard Martín has time to clear.
- Martín's clearance hits Mbappé from close range and deflects past Joan García: his 10th league goal.
- Barça take a corner short and quickly, before Madrid's defence has set itself.
- Pedri works the ball inside and slips a disguised pass to Raphinha in the box.
- Raphinha hits it low and hard with his left foot, through Bellingham's legs; Lunin gets a hand to it but cannot keep it out.
- Bellingham spins away from pressure in midfield and finds Güler.
- Güler plays substitute Camavinga through into the space behind Barça's right side.
- Camavinga touches it past Cubarsí and reaches it before Joan García, who has come out.
- He squares it and Mbappé taps into the empty net: his 100th goal for Real Madrid.
Barça had the ball, Madrid had the better chances
- A back four held together with tape. Koundé, Eric García and Christensen were out, and Espart went off at 30' after a collision with Tchouaméni. Cancelo switched to right-back and Balde came on at left-back; there was no other senior defender on the bench (SI, club report).
- Possession without penetration. Barça had 62% of the ball, 18 shots and 36 touches in Madrid's box, but only 1.19 xG and two big chances to Madrid's four (FotMob, LiveScore). Pedri: "We lacked rhythm with the ball, especially in the first half we were very slow" (SI).
- Yamal kept quiet. Cucurella stayed tight on Yamal all night, grabbing his shirt more than once (Al Jazeera, Goal). Yamal's best chance, just before half-time, came off a poor touch, and his 78th-minute shot went just wide. Opta Analyst has him with five shots worth 0.51 xG, the most in the team, and no chances created. Gordon, on the other side, was Barça's best player on FotMob (7.9).
- Madrid's outlets. When Madrid won the ball, Güler and Bellingham looked straight for Mbappé and the runners behind (club report). Both goals came down Barça's right side, first through Diomande, then through Camavinga. Mourinho said it is hard for any striker to attack the space behind Barça's line, so he used midfielders such as Camavinga and Bellingham to break it (SI). The animation is a schematic of Barça's possession against Madrid's block; positions are approximate.
Tactical scenes
Barça kept the ball high in Madrid's half, and when they lost it Madrid went straight at the space behind them. At 33' Bellingham won a tackle and Güler crossed for Mbappé's scissor-kick; just before half-time Diomande ran through one-on-one with Joan García and hit the side netting; at 50' Bellingham broke two-on-one and could not find Mbappé. The winner came the same way.
Evidence: Madrid's 10 shots were worth 1.94 xG, Barça's 18 only 1.19 (FotMob). Madrid made 4 big chances to Barça's 2 (LiveScore), and the Barça report says Madrid were dangerous on the counter throughout. FotMob match page · LiveScore: ratings and match stats · FC Barcelona match report · Sky Sports report
Recreate it in FM26
FC Barcelona · Barça's possession game and high line · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Barça's possession game and high line
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Joan García | Sweeper Keeper | Sweeper Keeper |
| RB | Espart | Full-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RCB | Cubarsí | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Gerard Martín | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Cancelo | Inside Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RDM | Rodri | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Screening Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Pedri | Box-to-Box Playmaker | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Yamal | Inside Forward | Inside Outlet Winger |
| AM | Fermín | Attacking Midfielder | Tracking Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Gordon | Winger | Tracking Winger |
| ST | Raphinha | Channel Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Passing DirectnessShorter
- Attacking TransitionPatient Build-Up
- PatienceWork Ball Into Box
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Defensive LineHigher
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
The idea: Keep the ball with a Deep-Lying Playmaker and a Box-to-Box Playmaker and push the line up. It only works with centre-backs who can run back, because every ball lost in midfield invites a run behind.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't reproduce the injury list that left Balde as the only senior defender on the bench.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Formation 4-3-3, Mid block, De Jong on at 46' (for Fermín). Start with a third midfielder, defend a little deeper while the back four is makeshift, and bring De Jong on at half-time. It would not have created many more chances, but it would have taken away most of Madrid's breaks. It moves FC Barcelona's win chance from 23% to 35% (xG 1.19–1.94 becomes 1.09–1.09). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer FC Barcelona needed
Jules Koundé
Barça's right side was the weak point: Espart went off at 30', Cancelo had to switch, and both Madrid goals came down that side. Koundé has the recovery pace to chase a runner like Camavinga.
Achraf Hakimi
Both goals came down Barça's right after the patched-up switch. Hakimi's recovery speed covers the space behind, and his overlaps would pull Cucurella away from Yamal.
What the analysts said
“First half was no good, second half after the 1–1 was better.”Hansi Flick after the match (SI)
“I can see, and this is the truth, that today we are not fresh and this is what we have to change.”Hansi Flick after the match (SI)
“It's our first defeat in LaLiga. It's a long way until the end of the season.”Hansi Flick after the match (Sky Sports)
“We lacked rhythm with the ball, especially in the first half we were very slow.”Pedri after the match (SI)
“A great victory for the boys, I repeat, against a great opponent.”José Mourinho after the match (Sky Sports)
“It is difficult for any attacker to attack space against Barcelona; the only solution is to do it with your midfielders.”José Mourinho after the match (SI)
“I told Camavinga, go and attack the space.”José Mourinho on the winner (SI)
Barça had the ball, but Madrid had the better chances.
What's happening. Barcelona lost 2–1 at home to Real Madrid: their first league defeat after nine wins, and their second defeat in five days. They had 62% of the ball and 18 shots. Madrid's ten shots were worth more, about 1.9 expected goals to Barça's 1.2 (FotMob). Mbappé scored both.
How it works. A side that keeps the ball in the opponent's half needs two things when it loses it: a quick counter-press and defenders who can run back. Barça were short of both. The right side was patched up after Espart's injury, and Flick said the team was not fresh. Madrid sat in a block, kept Yamal double-marked and, when they won the ball, played straight for Mbappé and the runners behind.
What the shots say. Madrid's chances were clearly better. One reading: the opener was a freak deflection, Lunin made five saves, and a level game turned on one late break. The other: Madrid made twice as many big chances, and Barça's many touches in the box brought few clear shots. Both hold. The second is the worry, because Paris looked the same.