Afterwards, they privately expressed surprise at how comfortable it had all been, how right he was. “We were good defensively and very efficient in attack.” Before the game, he told his players that if they made no mistakes, if they were patient, they would win. “Defensively we were very solid and it’s difficult for opponents to make chances against us we have to be solid a bit further forward,” Ancelotti said. Madrid’s manager was not entirely happy but it had gone more or less as he imagined and the impotence of Barcelona’s response was not entirely unexpected. Something too in the acceptance of Madrid winning that way and in Barcelona losing that way as if that meant it mattered less in the attempt to reduce it all to pegada, the ability to land the knock-out punch. But there was something in that being the explanation offered up that felt like it explained more. It was true too that there wasn’t much more from either team.
And while Dest smashed an easy opportunity over the bar at one end, David Alaba smashed a significantly harder one into the net at the other. Agüero, De Jong, and Memphis aren’t Messi, Suárez and Griezmann. “We can’t ask for more,” he said, the latest in the long list of ‘it is what it is’ lines that could well be doing more harm than good, an excuse to hide behind. Equally easy to grasp was the sporting director, Ramón Planes, admitting that a team “in construction” don’t really have the players who win games. Sergiño Dest’s opportunity has to be scored,” Koeman said, which was easy enough for a start. Only it really wasn’t that difficult, and that could be seen not just through what happened on the pitch but maybe what was said off it, too. It’s difficult to understand this result.” As for Ronald Koeman, he insisted: “It’s very, very hard to take. Asked how it felt, he raised an eyebrow, shrugged his shoulders and said: “Good.” Then he added: “It’s only three points, not six.” But doesn’t it mean much more than that, he was asked? You know, what with it being the clásico and all. Real Madrid had won a third clásico in a row he had won his first. “We made the mistake of thinking it was finished,” Carlo Ancelotti said of that final goal, which was understandable because it was. And although Barcelona did then score, Agüero turning in a volley on 97, it was too late. “The second goal shouldn’t happen,” he said, bluntly. All it lacked was Yosemite Sam’s hat to land on. She was having a lovely day, Ter Stegen wasn’t: gripping at his shorts, shouting, he leapt in the air, fuming. “That’s for my mum: it’s her birthday,” Lucas said later. Eric García saw Ter Stegen save Asensio’s shot but not Lucas Vázquez coming past him to finish it off. In the 93rd minute Marco Asensio sprinted up the left, clear. “Madrid had had better opportunities than us,” Marc-André ter Stegen admitted after, and they were about to get the clearest of all. Despite or perhaps because of sticking Luuk de Jong and Gerard Piqué up front, although Sergio Agüero and Memphis Depay were there too, there were more forwards than football and not one shot on target.
Barcelona had the ball but couldn’t find a way through and never looked much like finding one either. He hadn’t been on the bench long when it definitely was. His work was done and the game was too, it seemed. Now Vinícius left too, eventually cracking into a smile and pointing at the scoreboard. Mingueza had already played his last minutes an hour earlier, departing early defeated. Which is pretty much all their players had seen too, Óscar Mingueza especially. Mostly they were just glad to see the back of him. More took pictures where once they took the piss.
As he went along the front of the north stand, some Barcelona supporters came to shout at him. The Brazilian was on the other side of the ground when he was taken off with four minutes left and Real Madrid 1-0 up in the clásico, slowly heading eastbound around the edge of the pitch. V inícius Júnior had a long walk home but not half as long as the people he passed on the way.