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Quick recap from El Clasico The big question surrounding Barcelona?s starting XI heading into this game was whether Pedri would be included, but Xavi eventually decided against it, as did Carlo Ancelotti with Ferland Mendy. The French defender had not trained the day before the game, necessitating Eduardo Camavinga to fill in for him. Carlo also chose to start Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric, while Dani Carvajal and Nacho began the game on the bench.
Real Madrid made a very poor start with Lunin giving the ball away to Raphinha very early, followed by a Vinicius error that won Barcelona an early corner. Andreas Christensen scored from the poorly defended corner to put the visitors up 1-0 within the first five minutes of the game. Real Madrid had a fantastic chance to level the score just a couple of minutes later as Tchouameni and Modric created a great opportunity for Vinicius, but he missed from close range. However, the Brazilian made up for it by equalizing from the spot in the 18th minute after Lucas Vazquez was brought down in the box by Pau Cubarsi. Barcelona nearly went ahead again as Madrid?s poor defense against corners continued. Lunin had to deny Raphinha?s direct corner on the line to keep the scores tied.
Real Madrid dominated large phases of the second half initially, but their decision-making and finishing in the final third were not up to the mark, failing to impact the g...