Real Madrid praised for El Clasico victory over Barcelona: 'It was men against boys!'

Martin Macdonald

• 27 Oct 2025 09:00 CDT
• 2 min read

News

The first Clasico of the season concluded on Sunday with Real Madrid claiming all three points after a 2-1 victory against arch-rivals Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu.

There was added tension to this game heading into proceedings due to comments made by Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal on a podcast with Gerard Pique.

He said Real Madrid players “rob, complain and do things” to influence the outcome of matches.

That did not go down well at all in the Madrid camp.

In the match itself, Madrid took the lead via a smart Kylian Mbappe finish following a perfect through-pass from a revitalised Jude Bellingham, who was back to his best after a slow start to the campaign.

Fermin Lopez fired Barca level thanks to an assist from Marcus Rashford, but Bellingham emerged as the match-winner to score from a yard out just before the break.

Barca had key players like Raphinha, Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowsi out with injury, while Real Madrid looked extremely assured of themselves.

Managerial legend Arsene Wenger descried the affair as "men against boys" while working as a pundit on the game and praised the efforts of Madrid boss Xabi Alonso.

"El Clasico was a bit like a duel between men and boys. Real Madrid's defence was much stronger than Barcelona's," the former Arsenal boss said.

"In attack, Madrid always looked capable of scoring, while Barcelona seemed ineffective. They had a lot of possession, but never really seemed capable of scoring. I give credit to Xabi Alonso. He balanced the team well to end up being superior.

They defended well, pressed their opponents and created dangerous chances, scoring two goals and missing a penalty. They clearly played a good game and, for me, they deserved to win this match against a Barça that showed very little up front."

Alonso responds to Vinicius Junior fury

In the second half as Real Madrid looked to protect their lead entering the final stages, Vinicius Junior was substituted for Rodrygo down the left-hand side.

The Brazilian was furious as he saw his number come up and was shouting expletives as he left the pitch, ignoring Alonso as he walked to the bench.

As the camera caught side of him on the bench, he was still ranting away to team-mates.

Alonso says the matter will be dealt with internally.

"In what was a great game, Vini also contributed a lot," he said.

"When the time comes, we’ll talk about it in the dressing room."

Vini Jr's attitude has been questioned at times this season which has led to speculation that he could leave the club.

He has, so far, refused to sign a new contract with Los Blancos amid rumours of a world-record transfer to the Saudi Pro League.

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