Real Madrid faced Barcelona at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on Sunday, Jan 12. In the 5th minute the Frenchman, Kylian Mbappe hit the ball to put it in the back of the net to make it 1-0 to Madrid.

Real Madrid celebrated but 17 minutes later, the 17-year-old, Lamine Yamal, scored to tie up the game at 1-1. After that, Real Madrid lost grip of the game as they conceded a goal from Lewandowski in the 36th minute, another goal from Raphina just 3 minutes later to make it 3-1, and a goal from Alejandro Balde to make it 4-1 at halftime.

As the players came out of their locker rooms for the second half, Raphina scored another goal to make it 5-1. Minutes later, Barcelona’s keeper, Wojciech Szczęsny, committed a brutal tackle on Kylian Mbappe to be sent off the field. 

Real Madrid scored a goal in the 60th minute trying to come back but it was clearly too late. 30 minutes later, the ref blew his whistle for full time and Real Madrid lost 5-2 in Saudi Arabia.

There was one benefit from this game, Kylian Mbappe looks like he has found his feet. The Frenchman was giving Barcelona’s defense trouble. With his quick feet, he was able to get past Barcelona’s defense quickly. Mbappe being able to cause trouble in Barcelona’s defense is huge because many people have been calling him a flop.

In the summer, Mbappe was signed on a Free Transfer from PSG with hopes of winning the UCL (UEFA Champions League) with Madrid as they have dominated the competition 15 times. 

However, his start at Madrid has been very questionable. He was missing chances that he would normally score at PSG and Real Madrid fans were calling him a flop. This time he was able to move the ball effectively around Barcelona players, he might be finding his form.

Madrid players Lucas Vasquez and Aurelien Tchoaumeni had a terrible game. These two failed to do their job on defense on Sunday and let the opposition get past them countless times. If these two players were able to play well, Madrid might have won. If they keep up this kind of form, Ancelotti will certainly put them on the transfer list once the window is open.

Another Madrid player, Vinicius Jr. had an OK performance. The Brazilian had a quiet night against Barcelona with only 1 shot on target. He has been performing well but against Barcelona, with one midfielder not performing as well as another defender slacking off, Real Madrid was at a disadvantage and it is not completely Vinicius Jr’s fault as he did end up getting an assist.

Real Madrid just didn’t look prepared for the El Classico on Sunday. There were multiple errors in the last game and they should have been doing better against Barcelona. 

They will face Brest in their next match on the 29th of January where hopefully they can come out with a win.