The madness and controversy of the Clásico: two VAR reviews, three disallowed goals, and the "gifts" that killed Ancelotti's Real Madrid in 20 minutes.

Barcelona have scored 16 goals against Real Madrid in the four official Clásicos this season. Four in the first leg of the league, five in Saudi Arabia , three in the Copa del Rey final, and four in the decisive duel at Montjuic that decided the title. A crazy encounter marked by Madrid's early lead (0-2 in the 14th minute) and the Barça's instant reaction: 3-2 in the 34th minute. In other words, Flick's team, in a vital La Liga match, came back against their eternal rival in 20 minutes . 20 minutes that were the death of Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid. His final stone on the bench.

Los Blancos, with a full week off to prepare for the match, took a fleeting step towards the title with two goals from Mbappé , the first a penalty (the earliest in a Clásico since 1997) and the second after a good run behind the Barça defense, which helped him move top of the Pichichi with 25 (later 26) and overtake Zamorano as the debutant with the most goals in his Madrid debut. But it was a mirage. Ancelotti's team, with a defense plagued by injuries, retreated into their own area and let Barça breathe with the ball, who enjoyed dominating their opponents at will.

Ancelotti called for calm while his players retreated, unable to pressure their opponents. Valverde, desperate, harangued his teammates, but it was no use. And yet the Italian had fielded an extra midfielder, Güler instead of Rodrygo , to try to have more of the ball. It didn't work.

Barça were a steamroller. They scored in the 19th, 32nd, and 34th minutes to secure the league title on a plate. There was some controversy over the VAR, but the goals made up for it. The referees reviewed the 0-1 penalty for a possible offside by Mbappé, but they understood that the Frenchman hadn't intervened at the start of the play before Cubarsí's error in controlling it. At 0-2, the Blaugrana called for a foul on Lamine before the goal, but nothing came of it. And just before halftime, already at 3-2 and before Lucas's error in Raphinha's 4-2, Hernández Hernández disallowed a penalty by De Jong on Mbappé for a prior offside while the crowd chanted " Florentino, son of a bitch." Before the match, Barça fans had displayed signs of the presidents of Madrid and La Liga.

There was time for another review, and Mbappé was also the protagonist, with the referee ruling out a goal for offside. Madrid saw that it was possible to hurt Barça in attack, but their defense was failing, and the break arrived with the second-highest number of goals in the history of these matches .

"In those minutes of the first half, we made clear mistakes that cost us goals. We gave away chances. We could have defended better, but we mustn't forget that we're without five defenders," Ancelotti recalled, referring to the absences of Carvajal, Rüdiger, Militao, Alaba, and Mendy .

Goal and controversy

After the break, a goal and more controversy. Vinicius and Mbappé found the back of the defense in the 69th minute, and Madrid had half an hour to push and dream of winning the league, but it didn't work either.

Later, there was controversy. Hernández Hernández spent two minutes with VAR reviewing a Tchouaméni handball in the box, which ultimately wasn't awarded as a penalty, prompting the crowd to chant: "La Liga is a mafia."

Youth player Víctor Muñoz had a clear chance to equalize, but missed. Just like Mbappé , who saw another goal ruled out for offside. Fermín scored the fifth for the Blaugrana, but Hernández Hernández , in his second consultation of the afternoon on the screen, ruled out a goal for the third time after Mbappé's two.

Seven points behind Barça, Madrid's reality now shifts to the future on the bench. "There's nothing to criticize in terms of attitude and commitment. It was a close game and we competed. We have to try to win the three remaining matches," said the coach.