Never has winning El Clasico done as much damage to a team as to Xavi Hernandez’s Barcelona this season.
Barcelona was euphoric after their victory at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in March.
It felt that they could win the Europa League whilst challenging Real Madrid for the LaLiga Santander title.
However, things have turned out very differently. Barcelona has collapsed and cannot replicate their performance level from the 4-0 victory against Real Madrid.
Barcelona has played seven times, during which time they have three victories, a draw and three defeats.
As a result, they have exited the Europa League and their efforts to win the LaLiga title are beyond reach.
Things have turned out far better for Real Madrid, however. Los Blancos are in the Champions League semi-finals and need just a point from their home match with Espanyol on Saturday to win LaLiga Santander.
Busquets’ warning
Sergio Busquets rarely speaks publicly apart from in post-match interviews, but it is worth listening to him when he does.
In an interview after El Clasico, he warned that the international break could hurt his side while simultaneously giving Real Madrid the time to recover.
The Blaugrana were in their best form of the season and finally overcame Lionel Messi’s departure after the Clasico win.
Yet, this has proved not to be the case. On the contrary, they have been poor with the ball ever since.
Their defence has not been as solid as at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Barcelona has also had to face several off-field incidents, such as having 30,000 Eintracht Frankfurt fans in the Camp Nou and Gerard Pique’s leaked audio messages.
A question of survival
