The contrast in approaches was stark. Barcelona held 62% of possession, completed 644 passes to Madrid's 385 and fired 17 shots to nine. Yet Madrid created the better openings, finishing with an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.98 against 1.26, and launched five counter-attacks to Barcelona's two.
Barcelona's tactical setup
Flick lined up in a 4-2-3-1 built on long spells of possession and a high defensive line. Rodri and Pedri ran the game from the base of midfield, Fermin Lopez started in the No.10 role in place of the injured Dani Olmo, and Raphinha led the line, with Lamine Yamal and Anthony Gordon stretching the pitch on the wings.
The plan pinned Madrid back for long periods, and Gordon in particular kept Andriy Lunin busy from the left. The cost came in midfield. Loose passes from Pedri handed Arda Guler two early shooting chances and later sent Yan Diomande clear just before half-time, and Madrid were dangerous every time they broke.
Barcelona's breakthrough eventually came from a set piece. In the 61st minute, a short corner found Pedri, whose dummy and disguised pass allowed Raphinha to fire across Lunin for his 13th league goal of the season.
Real Madrid's tactical setup
Mourinho mirrored the 4-2-3-1 on paper but asked his side to sit in a mid-to-low block. Aurelien Tchouameni and Bernardo Silva formed the double pivot, Federico Valverde operated at right-back to help contain Gordon, and Marc Cucurella was handed the job of shadowing Yamal on the other flank.
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The game plan had to absorb two major absences. Thibaut Courtois withdrew late with flu, Vinicius Junior was suspended and Diomande started on the left in his place. Diomande proved Madrid's most dangerous outlet, while Lunin, the stand-in goalkeeper, made five saves to keep the low block intact.
The opener, against the run of play in the 41st minute, summed up Madrid's approach. Bernardo was given time to release Diomande down the left, Barcelona failed to double up on him, and his low ball was cleared by Gerard Martin straight into Mbappe and past Joan Garcia. It was a fortunate goal, worth 0.50 of Madrid's xG, but it came from the type of transition they had been hunting all night.
The tactical chess match
The defining individual battle came on Barcelona's right, where Cucurella set out to disrupt Yamal's rhythm with tight marking and a string of fouls, escaping a booking until stoppage time. Yamal still found pockets of space, but his biggest moment went begging when he scuffed wide with only Lunin to beat moments after the opener.
In midfield, Barcelona won the battle on volume, but Madrid won it on turnovers. Valverde's switches of play to the left helped the visitors escape the press, while Bellingham's carrying and tackling repeatedly turned defence into attack. Barcelona controlled the tempo but could not stop Madrid breaking out in numbers.
In-game adjustments
The first change was forced. Right-back Xavi Espart limped off in the 30th minute after an early challenge from Tchouameni, and Alejandro Balde's introduction at left-back pushed Joao Cancelo across to the right, where he spent the rest of the night dealing with Diomande.
The key shift came after the equaliser. Mourinho replaced Valverde, who had been carrying a knock since the first half, with the more natural right-back Denzel Dumfries in the 62nd minute. Without Valverde's distribution, Madrid lost their outlet, and Barcelona enjoyed their best spell. Lunin produced a point-blank save from Martin's header, Yamal bent an effort wide and Frenkie de Jong, on for Fermin in the 74th minute, saw a shot blocked.
Flick then threw on Karim Adeyemi for Gordon in the 85th minute and Gabriel Jesus for Raphinha a minute later in search of a winner. Instead, Mourinho's final throw of the dice decided the game. Eduardo Camavinga, introduced for a tiring Bernardo in the 80th minute, needed only one moment. Barely a minute after coming on, Jesus lost possession, Bellingham's skill and Guler's link-up released Camavinga, and the Frenchman drove into the box, shook off Pau Cubarsi and squared for Mbappe to finish into an unguarded net in the 87th minute.
Conclusion
Real Madrid's victory was a triumph of efficiency over volume. Barcelona had the ball, the territory and the shots, but their high-risk approach was punished by Madrid's transitions, Lunin's saves and Mbappe's finishing. In his first Clasico back on the bench, Mourinho's pragmatism won the day, and the game was decided not by who had the most of the ball, but by who knew exactly what to do with it in the seconds after winning it back.