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Real Madrid impress but Vinicius tension grows - Clasico talking points
It was almost the perfect day for Real Madrid as Xabi Alonso's side beat Barcelona 2-1 in El Clasico to go five points clear at the top of La Liga.
Jude Bellingham got his first league goal and assist of the season after a difficult few months recovering from shoulder surgery.
Kylian Mbappe continued his lethal form in front of goal, while Alonso's tactics in his first Clasico in the dugout worked like a charm.
But then the Vinicius Jr question reared its head once more.
Unhappy with being substituted in the 72nd minute, the Brazilian winger ranted as he walked straight past his manager and stormed down the tunnel, before returning to the bench several minutes later.
BBC Sport spoke to Spanish football expert Guillem Balague to get his takeaways from a fiery Clasico at the Bernabeu, and whether or not Vinicius' frosty relationship with his club will ever thaw.
As first Clasicos go, this wasn't a bad one for Alonso. Seven of Real's previous eight managers lost their first La Liga meeting with Barcelona.
After the laissez-faire, player-orientated approach of Carlo Ancelotti failed to get results last season, Alonso's positional game-model yielded its first major result.
"He got it spot on. Real Madrid were very good, and Barcelona didn't play well because of what Real Madrid were doing," Balague told BBC Sport.
"Without the ball they pressed high for as long as they could, and if they were beaten, they tracked back in an organised way, everybody including Vinicius.
They defended in two lines separated by five to 10 metres. Barcelona could not find a way through.
The new system looks to be good news for Bellingham, who last season was essentially asked to do everything in midfield and more.
On paper the 22-year-old played on the right of midfield, but in practice he had the freedom to come inside and either support Mbappe or crash the penalty area.
"By using Eduardo Camavinga in central midfield, you get more dynamism and more ways to close down the channels," said Balague.
"That forced them to put Bellingham on the right-hand side. I'm sure he would have been asked to keep an eye on the runs of Mbappe when he had the ball and had space, and he found him a few times.
He was asked to get into the box and be around the edge of the box, where he is very dangerous. He also came inside to close the inside channels and make Barcelona's life very difficult.
There's no doubting that Madridistas love Vinicius, his name was chanted on several occasions by a fervent Bernabeu crowd.
But there have been countless reports in recent months that Los Blancos would consider letting him leave if the right offer were to come in.
Vinicius will have one year remaining on his contract come the end of the season, but talks over a new deal have stalled.
The player's reaction to being replaced with 20 minutes left to play spoke of strained relations.
As Vinicius left the pitch, cameras from broadcaster DAZN picked up the Brazilian saying: "Always me! I'm leaving the team! I'm leaving! It's better if I leave, I'm leaving."
After storming down the tunnel, Vinicius then returned to the bench for the closing stages.
But the drama did not stop there.
After the full-time whistle, he had to be restrained as he attempted to confront Lamine Yamal.
"Everyone will have a go at him and rightly so, because it showed a lack of respect for Rodrygo who replaced him," said Balague.
"But since being a kid he has lived in a hostile world, and he feels that everyone is against him.
"That mentality is difficult to shake, especially when you feel close to being number one in the world, then the club drives the axis towards Mbappe [as the star].
"This season he's felt that the club isn't protecting him. There are stories out there, possible leaked by the club, or with the club not denying it, that they wouldn't be unhappy if someone paid 250m euros (£218m) for him and let him go.
"He feels all that, and when Alonso subbed him - fairly, because Vinicius stopped dropping back as he should - in Vinicius' head he says, 'why me, why me again?'.
It will be difficult to build a bridge between the club and Vinicius at the moment.
After winning all four of last season's Clasicos, Sunday's performance was emblematic of Barcelona's unconvincing start to the campaign.
Injuries have robbed boss Hansi Flick of key players including Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo, and his system isn't working without them.
"It's like the whole team is a little bit less sharp without the ball, less hungry to recover it, less aggressive to get the possession back," added Balague.
It's easier to attack them. If the defensive line is not perfect, as it wasn't on the Mbappe goal because Alejandro Balde played him onside, they are not helped by the midfield and forwards not closing down those on the ball as well as they should.
Lamine Yamal, tormentor-in-chief of Real last season, was kept largely in check.
"Their stars weren't at their best. Lamine doesn't feel like he's in good form, perhaps he's suffering from groin problems that don't allow him to display his talent.
"The Barcelona of a year ago that caught Mbappe offside eight times, with Lewandowski, Raphinha and Lamine playing together, is gone at the moment.
They miss Raphinha in attack but defence as well, the intensity that he adds.
Marcus Rashford has been a shining light for Barcelona since joining on loan from Manchester United, but on Sunday he looked blunted.
"He was trying to create danger on the left-hand side, but he found himself too often on his own and he could not beat the Madrid defence," added Balague.
"Barcelona attacked too quickly which meant he had to beat one, two, three defenders.
He felt a little bit isolated and he lost possession a lot in the second half. He couldn't create a lot of danger, but he assisted for the goal. That came on the back of Barcelona stealing possession for the second time in 40 minutes. They don't do that often enough, so their style falls apart.
Source: BBC
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