How is Real Madrid so unshakable in the Spanish League?

How will Real end Barcelona's hegemony in “el clasico”?

In El Clasico, revenge must be avenged. Real Madrid accomplished this mission after losing all four meetings against Barcelona last season. That revenge was avenged with a 2-1 victory over Barca at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid on Sunday (October 26, 2025) evening WIB.

Despite the absence of Hansi Flick on the sidelines due to his red card suspension, Barça remained steadfast in the German coach's high-defensive system. Last season, Barça achieved domestic success thanks to their high-pressing, defensive-line approach. Many opponents, including Real Madrid, struggled due to frequent offside calls.

Recently, Barcelona's high defensive line has become predictable to their opponents. The most commonly used method to counter Barcelona's high defensive line is to position a forward behind the defenders as bait. On the other side, there is a winger ready to receive the ball.

When the ball is directed towards a winger, the offside line automatically becomes further back. The winger then took advantage of this moment by sending a cross to the attacker who was no longer in an offside position. This method was successfully applied by Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla to beat Barca.

However, Real Madrid apparently didn't need such a complex strategy to break down Barca's high defensive line. Coach Xabi Alonso's team simply employed a traditional approach, long established in football, that involves deploying players with high speed and alertness to block runs early to avoid offside traps.

The role of the fast player is taken on by Kylian Mbappe. He waits for the right moment to receive the pass and start running. Jude Bellingham, who keenly observes Mbappe's movement, sends a precise through ball from the midfield that is then converted into a goal in the 22nd minute.

Why is the mission of revenge so energizing for Real Madrid?

Failing to win a single Clasico last season contributed to Real Madrid's downfall. Since Hansi Flick took over, Barca have consistently found a way to defeat Real Madrid. In all four Clasicos last season, Flick triumphed over his rivals.

The German coach is on the verge of equaling Pep Guardiola's record of leading Barca to the longest winning run against Real Madrid in all competitions. Guardiola won five consecutive El Clasico matches between 2008 and 2010.

As a giant club currently leading the La Liga standings, Real Madrid refuses to be subjected to Barca's wrath again. Moreover, the two teams have been engaged in a fierce rivalry for years. "They'll want revenge, but we have to be ourselves like last season and believe in our way of playing," said Barca player Pau Cubarsi before El Clasico, as quoted by The Athletic.

Real Madrid's performance under the new coach, Xabi Alonso, shows improvement compared to last season. However, there is still much room for improvement in Alonso's tactical scheme. He has significantly altered the way Real plays when they do not have possession of the ball.

In addition, Real's defensive formation is much more cohesive. "Los Blancos" has become the second team in the league with the lowest average goals conceded per match. The first position is held by Deportivo Alaves with an average of 0.9 goals conceded per match. Meanwhile, Real has recorded an average of one goal conceded per match.

How did Barcelona survive their worst season under Hansi Flick this season?

Barcelona is currently experiencing a poor run. Before being defeated by Real Madrid in El Clasico, they were defeated by Sevilla in La Liga and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

When facing Sevilla on October 5, for instance, Barca suffered a heavy defeat, 1-4. Prior to that match, Sevilla had not defeated Barca at home for 10 years. Sevilla's coach Matis Almeyda studied the match between Barca and PSG in the UEFA Champions League to devise a strategy.

As a result, he changed the approach from three defenders to four defenders. This was done to strengthen the midfield in order to suppress the creativity of Barca's midfielders.

"We studied the match well and the result was satisfactory. If we had let Barcelona through, they would have hurt us," Almeyda said of the recipe for taming Barca on Sunday (October 5, 2025), as quoted by Diario AS.

By strengthening the midfield, Sevilla hindered Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, who are the brains of Barcelona's game. As a result, Sevilla was able to freely pressure Barcelona's defense, ultimately forcing defender Ronald Araujo into a mistake that led to a penalty.

Barca's coach Hansi Flick remains adamant about employing a high defensive line approach, despite the fact that this tactic has been countered by PSG. The solution to dismantling Barca's high defensive line seems to have become common knowledge, which can be executed not only by top teams but also by mid-table teams such as Sevilla.

Isaac Romero's second goal for Sevilla exploited Barca's high defensive line. Ruben Vargas's swift dribbling down the wing pushed the offside line back.

As a result, Barca's offside trap failed as the ball was in front of Romero when the low cross was delivered. PSG used a similar strategy to score the winning goal through Goncalo Ramos.

Why did the Spanish League players protest?

La Liga Spain has the potential to make history as the first European domestic league to play a regular season abroad. However, this plan has faced protests from the Spanish Football Association, which remained silent for 15 seconds before the kickoff. Following a busy schedule due to the increasing number of competitions, the greed of the football business has intensified with the organization of matches overseas.

The match that sparked protests from the players was the home game of Villarreal against Barcelona. According to the plan, the match, which was supposed to be held at the De La Ceramica Stadium in Villarreal, Spain, was moved to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, United States. If successful, La Liga President Javier Tebas aims to continue this in the following season. There will not be many La Liga matches held abroad, but only one per season.

Holding league matches abroad is a way to expand the market while also increasing revenue in the medium to long term. If the La Liga brand becomes more widely recognized, especially in the US market, it will have an impact on increasing value with partners and sponsors.

Holding matches abroad is a common practice among operators of top European leagues. However, matches conducted overseas are usually limited to tournament formats, such as the Spanish Super Cup and the Italian Super Cup, rather than regular league matches.

The idea of playing a regular league abroad has faced opposition, even from the players involved. As expressed by Barca midfielder Frenkie de Jong, matches in the United States could add to the burden for players due to the long journey of 7,200 kilometers. Undertaking such a distance in the midst of the regular season is considered highly unreasonable.

The Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) has condemned La Liga's lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence regarding the possibility of holding matches in the US.