EL CLASICO | Spanish Supercopa Final | 11.01.26 | 20:00 CET

I hear what you’re saying.
That’s how I felt after the 5-2 loss against Atletico. I like what being implemented…and when the big game came, he switched up for some reason.

But for yesterday I can also understand him thinking: “we’re not good right now, if I take any risks, we’re getting slaughtered”

To get back on track, what we need is the club to tell him “play your way, we’ll back you 100%”….otherwise we’re setting him up to fail.

 

I'm still of the opinion that this Barcelona team is better than us, but it's highly overrated. Their attack is lethal, but their defence is pretty bad. Combined with the style they play, we should score at least two goals every time we face them. Especially because the defence plays to our strengths with so much open space , and Yamal and Raphina - to a lesser extent - don't really bother defending.

It's just a bad record that the team scored through an individual effort and then through a set piece. It should be much easier to penetrate this Barcelona side's defence, but unfortunately there's just no proper link-up.

And then there is the endless cycle of player injuries. Given today's standards and the fact that football, like any other entertainment industry, is heading towards maximising revenue, which comes with maximising the number of games played, you can't afford to have injury-prone players. Alaba, Mendy, Militao or Camavinga. . . they do not work - not as starters you can count on, anyway. With Trent you seem to have another case, even though I don't know if he had those injuries at Liverpool as well.

 

🚨 Only 6 Real Madrid players completed 20+ passes vs Barcelona last night: Thibaut Courtois, Raúl Asencio, Tchouaméni, Dean Huijsen, Álvaro Carreras & Jude Bellingham.

Other midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga (12 passes completed).

Fede Valverde: (9 passes completed). pic.twitter.com/qXPA2KZAAD

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 12, 2026

🚨 Thibaut Courtois was Real Madrid’s most progressive passer last night: 10 progressive passes completed.

Álvaro Carreras had 5, Aurélien Tchouaméni & Rodrygo had 3.

Dean Huijsen, Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga & Vini Jr. all had 1 each. @besoccer_ES pic.twitter.com/FJ7b6OCu8I

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 12, 2026

🚨 Real Madrid had their worst passing record last night since the 2015/16 season.

- They attempted the fewest passes: 254.

- They completed the fewest passes: 204.@besoccer_ES pic.twitter.com/nA4r67dlNK

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 12, 2026

 

I was admittedly high on Xabi arriving last summer. And a lot of what he did seemed to work for a while. But he does confuse me with his decisions sometimes. Subs and formations especially.

This time around in this game, I kind of get it I guess. Loads of injuries etc. I rather look at the last classico to see what we can do when players are healthy.

But the truth is we haven't really played "rock n' roll" football, and that's a burden Xabi put on himself unnecessarily (have to agree with @4x4s on that).

He is only a young coach and I liked his overall character as a player, but as a manager you have to not only coach but also manage. That's a tough task for anyone at Real Madrid, let alone someone so new to the job. Maybe I'm too lenient, but I still think he can succeed here if the club (Florentino and the board) work with him. Still rooting for him.

 

This is embarrassing.

Espanol played better against Barca than us. In fact if you watch most Barca matches you will see that even the poorest teams in la liga create multitude of chances against Barcelona. That is nothing to shout home about.

I'm actually exhausted by it all. Xabi has not improved the team at all, I don't see why we should invest in him with new signings in the summer. He hasn't proven anything. He should leave in the summer.

 

Espanyol, Elche, Sevilla you name them all created more chances than us. Even Frankfurt, Brugge etc. Cowardly approach, I’d rather try and lose 4-1 than play this cowardly football and lose anyway 3-2.

We could have easily beaten this Barca, i’m still not convinced by them. Many teams in Europe have benefited from their weakness, while we from time to time give them the ball, let them look way better than they actually are. This was also under Carlo.

This isn’t on the coach anymore, it’s on the players. If they don’t want to play a certain style of football, than get the ******** out.

 

Lately hes been doing a lot more managing than coaching. To the point of giving up the implementation of any specific idea or the development of identity.

 

He should get back to coaching and less managing now - leave it to the club / players to sort their on shit.

All honesty, the writing is on the wall. He isn't going to be here next season so try and get the best of what we have not and see what we end up with end of season.

 

He can still get fired at any point or he might still be here next season. So this approach youre suggesting is not rational from his POV.

 

You're not wrong. The key is finding the balance, what can he impose and where he has to make compromises. At the moment it certainly seems like he is lost in the sauce. Subs kind of show that. On the other hand it has worked with some players. Rodrygo seems to be kicking into his best form and he loves Xabi - even publicly made a statement the team is with him after running to hug him after scoring a goal... It's a fine balancing act. Especially when unchecked egos have been allowed to grow for this long.

 

You are both exaggerating Barcelona's defensive frailties. They hadn't conceded a single in nearly a month before they played us. Obviously that includes the winter break, but that was still something like 9+ hours of play without conceding a single goal.

 

It's a lost case. His "era" effectively ended months ago; Perez/JAS are evidently not convinced by him and will never afford him the control, support or personnel he needs.

The only thing holding them back from sacking Xabi is that they don't have a high-profile replacement. Klopp and Zidane will never happen and other "big" names will not risk their careers/reputation joining a circus where divas rule.

That's why I think Xabi should have grown a pair and continued with his plans and philosophy. He'll be fired anyway, it's just a suspended sentence. That's my main gripe with him..

 

Good point. I hope he still has time.
Play your game, bring up Cestero and Pitarch. Try something new in that midfield.

 

Thats what Im saying, nobody can know that for sure. So from Xabi's perspective its better to try to win now by being conservative, rather than experiment and lose just to learn lessons for the future. Because if he keeps winning, maybe he gets to stay. Its always the same story.

 

Either Barcelona's players have more talent than ours or they listen to instructions better than ours. It's one or the other. Either answer doesn't make me feel good.

 

"But he's the only one that runs"

If you watch closely, his every first touch turns into a duel

 

Yeah this conversation didn't age well

 

But it's true; when you are RM manager - you are guilty until proven innocent. Hence you don't really have time to experiment, etc. as any small slip up and then the sandglass to your demise begins.

 

And they get players who are suited for that style or already familiar. Balde, Fermin, Lamine, Cubarsi own youth.

Pedri, Olmo Spanish and suited to their style.

Lewa/Torres suited familiar.

Frenkie played for Ajax which used to play the same. Suited and familiar.

Kounde and Raphina only ‘outsiders’.

 

I think

You swap them round and stats don't stay the same. Bellingham isn't going to have as many passes when we hardly have any possession.

 

Also what the heck was that thing about not giving a guard of honor to the winning team? I have never seen a team just refuse to do it like we did? It is so uncharacteristic of us.