Rarely, if ever, is there a game between these two Spanish behemoths that doesn't provide a talking point or two, and with Jose Mourinho, the antagonist of many Clasicos past, having now returned to Los Blancos, there were reasons to believe that this edition would be no different.
Barca aiming for LaLiga record
Real would certainly have been looking to the 'Special One' to upset the odds, given that he was unbeaten in his last five games against Barca when coach of their eternal rivals (W3, L2).
However, under Hansi Flick, the Catalan giants have been a different beast, and were looking for their 10th league win in succession from the start of the season which, were they to achieve it, would set a new record.
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The form book certainly favoured the Blaugranes, as did the fact that they'd won six of the last seven competitive Clasicos, and had also been victorious in all of their last 23 LaLiga fixtures at home, scoring at least two goals in all four games played at Camp Nou in 2026/27.
The visitors had yet to keep a clean sheet away from the Santiago Bernabeu this season, and had lost two of their last three away league games (W1). However, they had scored four times in each of their last three competitive matches (W3), and the balance over the last 13 Clasicos was in their favour (W8, L5, D0).
Incessant early pressure
It took almost two minutes for Real to have any sort of possession, and even when they got hold of the ball, they quickly lost it again. Six times the visitors lost possession in the opening five minutes, with Yan Diomande responsible for three giveaways.
Despite this, and incessant Barca pressure, Real had the first effort of any sort through Arda Guler.
With 10 minutes played, 15 players in total still had a 100% pass completion, evidencing the quality throughout both sides.
Kylian Mbappe was one of a few Real players who were consistently beating Barca's high defensive line, with Guler and Diomande having two touches in the hosts' box in the opening quarter hour.
Mourinho got his tactics spot on
In true Mourinho fashion, a back five at times stifled any sort of creativity from Barcelona's mobile front line. Marc Cucurella and Lamine Yamal renewed their rivalry from the Champions League clash last season, when the former was at Chelsea, and that match-up was one to keep an eye on.
Certainly, in those early stages, the Madrid man had the better of those exchanges. Lamine hadn't registered a shot, had just one touch in the Real box, and had lost two of his three one-on-ones in the opening 20 minutes.
As might be expected, Barca had two-thirds of possession in the opening half hour, whilst they had also edged their opponents in terms of pass completion (88.8% to 87.5%), and both ground one-on-ones (52.9% to 47.1%) and aerials (75% to 25%).
Xavi Espart's early departure forced a reshuffle at the back for Barca, and it saw Alejandro Balde back in the XI for the first time in a while.
Gerard Martin hands Mbappe opener
The issue for the hosts was the excellent way in which Real were denying them space, and forcing them to adopt a different way of working.
To put into perspective how dogged the visitors were in the first half, all of Diomande, Cucurella, Guler, Bernardo Silva and Aurelien Tchouameni had been involved in at least five one-on-ones, and the team as a collective had also won possession back on 16 separate occasions.
Raphinha's three shots before the break were all delivered with venom, but all off target, and that was symptomatic of a wider Barca malaise.
A weak clearance just before half-time from an under-par Gerard Martin fell right at the feet of Mbappe, and the ball simply hit the Frenchman before going in.
Lamine off colour
One of only two Real shots on target, it was actually no more than Los Blancos deserved after a much more positive half from them than their hosts.
Just two interceptions from Barca in the opening 45 told their own story, though they did appear to come out in a much sharper frame of mind after the break.
Lamine was still off colour, however, and his pass completion of just 81.3% was the second worst on show in the first hour of the game.
With their talisman not at the races, the burden of responsibility fell on his colleagues, but when it mattered, they were still coming up short. Pedri had won only one of his duels by way of example.
Raphinha gives Barcelona hope
Raphinha's equaliser was his first shot on target from six attempts, and whilst not necessarily against the run of play, it still came out of nothing.
It gave the hosts some renewed impetus, but there were some surprising elements to the various aspects of Barca's game.
For instance, Rodri, normally so reliable in midfield, lost possession on 10 occasions, which meant a consistent loss of control for Barca in those areas.
The other issue for Hansi Flick will have been why his team weren't so on top when looking at the collective possession stats (61.9% to 38.1%), and a shot count that was 17 to eight in the Catalan club's favour.
Mbappe's sucker punch
Right near the end, Eduardo Camavinga's stunning break upfield and perfect pass to Mbappe provided a sucker punch that knocked the stuffing out of the hosts.
Mourinho had made the right decisions at the right time, and for once that couldn't be said of Flick.
Barca simply had no answers, and when players like Rodri and Pedri aren't at the races, you know it isn't going to be your night.
It won't matter that the Catalans were better in almost every metric. The only one that Real will be bothered by is the one that meant they head back to Madrid with all three points.
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Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high-profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
