MADRID, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid beat FC Barcelona 2-1 in the first Clasico of the season, while Villarreal cruised past Valencia to remain third in the standings. Here are four things we learned this weekend in La Liga.
1. Organization and Mbappe win the day for Real Madrid
Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso won the tactical battle against FC Barcelona with a relatively simple plan. He ensured there was never much space between defence and midfield, while putting Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni together to deny Barcelona space for its quick passing game.
Jude Bellingham was placed on the right, but was allowed freedom to move and support Kylian Mbappe in the Madrid attack and that worked perfectly with the Englishman's first league goal of the season.
Meanwhile, Barcelona couldn't deal with Mbappe, who opened the scoring and had a goal ruled out for the tightest of offside infractions.
2. Barcelona lacking players and fitness for style of play
While Madrid deserved to win, Barcelona was hampered by injuries to players such as Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo and especially Raphinha, whose pressing game was sorely missed.
Lamine Yamal also looks to be affected by a pelvic problem that taken the edge off his game and has robbed Barcelona of its usual magic in attack.
The problem for Barcelona is that if their players don't press effectively up the pitch, then the high defensive line is vulnerable and that was exposed clearly in Mbappe's opener.
3. Marcelino working miracles and taking revenge
Marcelino Garcia Toral has guided Villarreal to third place despite also having to play in the UEFA Champions League, and he laid down a marker as his side won 2-0 in Valencia on Saturday.
Villarreal was simply too good for Valencia, and after the final whistle Marcelino took aim at Valencia owner Peter Lim, accusing him of lacking respect towards the club and its fans with his continued lack of investment.
Marcelino was sacked by Valencia in 2019 after winning the Copa del Rey and has clearly never forgiven the club's owner for his lack of ambition.
4. Athletic Club suffering lack of goals and fitness
After finishing fourth last season and strengthening the squad over the summer, Athletic Club is expected to be challenging again this season, even though it has the extra demands of playing in the Champions League.
However, that's not the case at the moment and Saturday's defeat to Getafe highlights the club's current problems. Athletic hardly created anything in the match and now has just nine goals from 10 league matches.
Meanwhile, Athletic has conceded nine of its 10 goals in the second half, with seven of those in the last 20 minutes - something that implies the team has a problem with its fitness.
Given that Athletic's style depends on its intensity, that is a huge problem for coach Ernesto Valverde. ■
