Real Madrid had a perfect day. At home, in front of their fans and with the Santiago Bernabéu's construction work almost complete, the team secured a victory that, in general terms, could define the course of LaLiga in the future.
See all the stats from the game.
Goals from Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo were enough of a boost for Madrid. Benzema is expected to receive the Ballon d'Or in Paris on Monday. Luka Modric, his teammate in the Merengues, congratulated him at the end of El Clasico.
"Karim, we all know what is going to happen with the Ballon d'Or and we are very happy for him and we hope he wins. He deserves it for everything he has done and continues to do," the Croatian midfielder explained.
Modric, who was also one of the most outstanding players in the match, said that Real Madrid are more than satisfied with the scoreline. But also acknowledged that the team suffered in the final stretch of the match.
"We are happy for the victory, for the game we played, and we want to thank the fans for the atmosphere they created. We knew that there would come a time when we would have to suffer because they handle the ball well and we had to defend strongly and suffer. We did that and we were convincing up front. We played a great game in my opinion."
In the Real Madrid squad the feelings are more than positive. With the result, Los Blancos have now gone nine games without defeat. Barca, on the other hand, suffered a defeat that, from an emotional point of view, is a huge blow for the squad.
"Very disappointed. I don't think we played a bad game but in the first half we failed in the transitions. When they don't have the ball, it looks like they're suffering, but then they score two goals. We have to learn from that," said Jules Koundé, FC Barcelona defender.
Confidence is the basis of success
Carlo Ancelotti revealed the tactics that have allowed Real Madrid to win El Clasico. Firstly, the coach said that the team had a lot of confidence and thanks to their calmness they obtained a good result: "We had a lot of confidence, with and without the ball".
In addition, Ancelotti said that Eder Militao made the difference in defence. The Brazilian put Robert Lewandowski under pressure and prevented him from managing the Blaugrana's attacks. "I wasn't prepared to mark Lewandowski specifically but Militao did very well. We controlled the players between the lines and the first half was very good," he said.
Finally, the Italian referred back to the 4-0 defeat in March. On that occasion, the coach tried to modify some parts of the system. The result of the idea was that heavy defeat that almost caused a mid-season crisis. "This time I tried not to invent and just put the players in their place."
