'Black Night': Spanish Newspapers Slam Real Madrid After Their 4-0 Capitulation Against Barcelona
14:31 GMT 21.03.2022 (Updated: 11:44 GMT 10.12.2022)
© REUTERS / NACHO DOCE
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Real Madrid may still be on top of La Liga, but the Spanish giants had no clue whatsoever in Sunday night's El Clasico against arch-rivals Barcelona. The Catalans were clinical in their display as they thumped Carlo Ancelotti's side 4-0, humiliating them in front of their home fans at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Spanish newspapers AS and Marca have launched a stinging attack on Real Madrid after the 13-time Champions League winners imploded against Barcelona during the weekend.
The score-line of the game made for a depressing reading for Los Blancos supporters after former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's double and strikes from Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres sealed an emphatic win for Xavi Hernandez's team in the Spanish capital.
Meanwhile, AS headlined their defeat as a "Black Night" before adding that Blaugrana completely "destroyed" them in the match.
It went as far as to say that the current Madrid team is the "worst" ever to play against the Catalonia-based club.
On the other hand, Marca called Real's defeat "a slap that hurts" on its front page before declaring that it never looked like a team which has been in control of the race for La Liga.
In fact, the highly-acclaimed paper said that Madrid were "unrecognisable" during the entire encounter.
They also argued that Ancelotti perhaps missed his star man Karim Benzema, who was sidelined due to an injury before blaming his tactics for their huge loss.
Ancelotti's strategy to employ Luka Modric in the role of a false No 9 came in for heavy criticism, as the Italian coach's move backfired completely.
Like Spain's press, Ancelotti was critical of himself as he acknowledged that it was his decision to bring in Modric as Benzema's replacement that resulted in Madrid's loss.
"The plan with Modric was to try to play the ball out from the back and find space between the lines with Rodrygo, Valverde and Vinicius", he said after the final whistle.
"It didn't work. It isn't a problem for me to take responsibility. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don't. I failed", the 62-year-old Madrid boss concluded.
The score-line of the game made for a depressing reading for Los Blancos supporters after former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's double and strikes from Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres sealed an emphatic win for Xavi Hernandez's team in the Spanish capital.
Meanwhile, AS headlined their defeat as a "Black Night" before adding that Blaugrana completely "destroyed" them in the match.
It went as far as to say that the current Madrid team is the "worst" ever to play against the Catalonia-based club.
On the other hand, Marca called Real's defeat "a slap that hurts" on its front page before declaring that it never looked like a team which has been in control of the race for La Liga.
In fact, the highly-acclaimed paper said that Madrid were "unrecognisable" during the entire encounter.
They also argued that Ancelotti perhaps missed his star man Karim Benzema, who was sidelined due to an injury before blaming his tactics for their huge loss.
Ancelotti's strategy to employ Luka Modric in the role of a false No 9 came in for heavy criticism, as the Italian coach's move backfired completely.
Like Spain's press, Ancelotti was critical of himself as he acknowledged that it was his decision to bring in Modric as Benzema's replacement that resulted in Madrid's loss.
"The plan with Modric was to try to play the ball out from the back and find space between the lines with Rodrygo, Valverde and Vinicius", he said after the final whistle.
"It didn't work. It isn't a problem for me to take responsibility. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don't. I failed", the 62-year-old Madrid boss concluded.
