Black day for Real Madrid as Barcelona's renaissance under Xavi gathers pace

Manager Ancelotti admits errors in 4-0 clasico defeat as Catalan rivals look sure to be a title threat next season

REAL MADRID PLAYER RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois – 5. A bad night at the office as Courtois shipped four goals in one of Real Madrid’s worst classicos for some time. Could have been much worse without him. AP

Dani Carvajal – 2. A poor display and as a result was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti at halftime. EPA

Eder Militao 4 – Started brightly but got worse as the game went on with a collection of errors on and off the ball. Reuters

David Alaba – 5. Arguably his worst performance this season. Nervy at times and was at fault for more than one goal. EPA

Nacho – 4. Struggled to cope with Ousmane Dembele on a defensive night to forget for Nacho. Getty Images

Luka Modric – 5. Had to drop too deep just to get touches of the ball. Not as influential as he would've liked. AFP

Casemiro – 5. Although he got a couple of defensive stops, he was too poor in possession as the anchor in midfield. EPA

Toni Kroos – 4. Struggled to get into the game and was chasing Barcelona shadows. Subbed at halftime. AP

Federico Valverde – 6. Best of the worst. Nearly scored and assisted a couple of goals. Never stopped trying. AP

Vinicius Jr – 5. Started well but faded quickly. Had a chance to score but took a dive instead for absolutely no reason. Getty Images

Rodrygo – 4. Poor decision making and minimal contribution in both attack and defence. Overwhelmed by the occasion. AFP

SUBS: Eduardo Camavinga (Kroos 46’) – 6. Didn't offer anything different to Toni Kroos, often committing cheap fouls that allowed Barcelona to slow down the play. Needed to do more defensively. AFP

Mariano Diaz (Carvajal 47) – 5. Fairly anonymous despite coming on a the break, Real Madrid's attack just couldn't get anything going as Xavi Hernandez' side took control of the game. AFP

Lucas Vazquez (Nacho 68) – 6. Took care of the ball and tried to get something going but it was a big ask with the game already heavily in Barcelona's favour. AFP

BARCELONA PLAYER RATINGS: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen – 7. Played the ball out short almost all the time. Sixth minutes save from Valverde. Stopped Vinicius in a rare Madrid attack as Barca ended Madrid’s run of five consecutive clasico wins. His opposite was far busier, but good save on 79. EPA

Ronald Araujo – 9. Scored the second after 37 minutes, a header. Full of confidence, full of energy. He tried to knock the ball around an opponent on the wing at one, then came centrally to end a Madrid attack. Getty Images

Gerard Pique – 8. Blocked a 19th minute Carvajal shot. Started the move which led to the opener. His long ball to Torres set up the fourth. Jeered by home fans. Loved it as his side were 4-0 up after 51 minutes. EPA

Eric Garcia – 8. Knocked the ball forward, usually to Pedri. Stopped Valverde in a rare Madrid attack after they’d gone 4-0 down. Growing in confidence. AP

Jordi Alba – 8. Smashed in a challenge in the opening seconds. Crossed for Aubameyang on 58 when Barca should have made it 5-0. Booked for a challenge on Vinicius – for which he apologised. More touches than any player on the pitch. AFP

Sergio Busquets – 9. Progressive start – as it was for his team. Booked for a pull on Militao. Stopped Vinicius in a 60th minute attack. Excellent overall from the veteran. “We wanted to dominate and we could have scored many more goals,” he said. “We’ve been having lots more of the ball and control of the games with our coach”. Reuters

Pedri – 9. So skilful and chipped a ball forward over the defenders to Torres for his goal. Controlled the pace of the game from the middle. He’s 19. Spectacular. EPA

Frenkie De Jong – 8. Booked for a 25th minute foul on Kroos. Set up Aubameyang, played a part in Pedri’s goal, too. Some beautiful passing movements. Getty Images

Ousmane Dembele – 9. Right in a high press and lost possession to Kroos to set up a 7th minute attack. Drew a save from Courtois on 13. Perfect cross for Aubameyang for the opener. And the perfect corner for the second goal. Involved in the third, too. Started to lose the ball more in the second half and was brought off after 79. EPA

Ferran Torres – 8. Hit the ball high and over in the first attack of the game. Beat Carvajal to set up Aubameyang. Curled a 17th minute shot just wide. Scored the third straight after half time, sweeping the ball in against a side who looked lost. Set up the fourth after 51 minutes. Powerful shot that was saved by the excellent Courtois on 64. Six shots in his best Barca game. AFP

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 9. First clasico and what a night for him. Forced a save from Courtois on 13. Put Barça ahead on 29, heading in Dembele’s cross. Almost made it two, set up the third, then scored the fourth. One of the greatest nights of his life. Should have made it 5-0 on 58. AP

SUBS: Gavi (De Jong 70’) – 7. Neat and cool headed, which is what his boss Xavi demanded. Some nice skills. AFP

Memphis Depay (Aubameyang 70’) – 7. Straight into the attack and forced a save from Courtois on 78. EPA

Adama Traore (Dembele 80’) – 7. Went right with instruction not to lose the ball as Dembele was doing. Disciplined. AFP

Nico Gonzalez (Pedri 85’) – N/A. Two fouls with his first two touches. Then a third foul with his fourth touch. Getty Images

Dani Alaves (Alba 85’) – N/A. AP

Real Madrid wore black shirts and black shorts, a novelty choice for a fixture whose aura has been built for more than a century around the fame and lustre of their all-white strip.

It meant that Barcelona were also in a form of clasico disguise, dressed in their ‘second’ outfit of yellow with red diagonal stripes.

After an astonishing night at the Santiago Bernabeu, the attire helped write the headlines. A dark night indeed for Madrid, 4-0 losers at home to their greatest rivals, a Barcelona who had lost the five previous clasicos, who trailed Madrid by 15 points in the Spanish table going into this, a match that will be remembered as a landmark in what looks like a Barca revival.

It may also act as a warning to Sunday’s stunned hosts not to mess with traditional kit, even if the marketing department deems it a good idea.

“We could have scored more goals, and I hadn’t expected to be that much better than Madrid,” said Barcelona’s head coach Xavi.

So utterly were Spain’s champions-elect – Madrid have a nine-point lead over second-placed Sevilla in La Liga – rolled over by the old enemy that there was genuine frustration on Xavi’s bench that all-time records for winning scorelines in an away victory in the clasico were not being challenged.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice. He might have doubled that tally had he not offered a tame save to Thibaut Courtois, busy and brilliant in the Madrid goal, in the first half or miscued his connection with Jordi’s Alba’s cross in the second.

Ferran Torres, like Aubameyang a January signing, struck a handsome goal, from a similar spot where he had just squandered a better-set chance to score. Ousmane Dembele ended up in a tangle in a one on one with Courtois, who later added to his catalogue of smart saves to keep out substitute Memphis Depay.

After the final whistle the misses had been forgiven. “We are grinning from ear to ear,” said Xavi. Aubameyang could hear his name being sung by the small pocket of away supporters in a high corner of the stadium.

Those fans would have to scroll back more than decade to recall as an exhilarating a night as Sunday’s in this most resonant venue. Perhaps to the fabled 6-2 victory in 2009, during Pep Guardiola’s first season as Barcelona head coach.

Xavi, then in Barcelona’s midfield, set up four of the goals that evening and, though he is still less than five months into his first senior managerial job in Europe, never has he more resembled the Guardiola-to-be that he is so often styled as a coach.

He has clarity in his ideas, and evidently communicates them effectively enough that newcomers, signed from a different league – the Premier League in the case of Torres and Aubameyang – can integrate quickly in into the Xavi plan.

Aubameyang, who was still under contract at Arsenal until very late in the winter transfer window, scored his eighth and ninth Barcelona goals against Madrid. He’s only started eight matches. Torres scored for the sixth time since joining from Manchester City. He has five assists, too, and is interpreting his role on the left of a front three with skill and confidence.

Real Madrid 3 PSG 1 – player ratings

Dembele, who the club’s executives pushed, aggressively, to leave in January to ease the club’s salary burden, can thank Xavi for making him feel he still belongs.

Dembele’s crosses, one from a zippy run, the other from a corner, set up both first-half goals at the Bernabeu, and by the time Adama Traore, another winter recruit, came on as a menacing second-half substitute, Madrid’s back four had been run ragged.

“It’s my fault,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, admitting that, dynamic though Barcelona were, their hosts were a mess. Missing the injured Karim Benzema, Ancelotti had started the match with Luka Modric as the most advanced player in the centre of the pitch. By half-time he had taken off one full-back, Dani Carvajal, and moved the other Nacho into a back three, so tortured had they been by Torres and Dembele.

“My planning was wrong,” admitted Ancelotti. “I can get things wrong once, but usually it’s a while before it happens a second time.”

Madrid certainly want to regard the four-goal fiesta as a one-off. What Ancelotti will recognise is that there is a revival under way with their oldest enemies, and that, if the 12-point gap between the clubs in the domestic table won’t be eroded completely this season, it will be very surprising if it stretches so wide in the next campaign.