Xabi Alonso has got a BIG job on his hands! Winners and losers after Lamine Yamal and La Liga champions-elect Barcelona remind Real Madrid just how far behind they really are - despite having Kylian Mbappe - in thrilling Clasico

Most could have seen this coming. Lucas Vazquez is not a right-back while Fran Garcia is Real Madrid's third choice left-back. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, meanwhile, are two of the top three Ballon d'Or contenders this season and Barcelona score goals for fun. Heading into Sunday's game, the Blaugrana had already put 12 goals past Madrid's beleaguered defence in three games, and so Los Blancos were always likely to suffer.

Yamal and Raphinha are two very different players. Raphinha darts, sprints and stretches defences, while Yamal creates, weaves through defenders, and looks for gaps where no one else can see a millimetre of room. They work together perfectly.

Such was the case on Sunday. Yamal did his part on the right, scoring one stunner while creating three chances as he teased Garcia throughout. Raphinha, meanwhile, was at his deadly, direct best on the left. He found the net twice, but on another day - and without a couple of key interventions from Thibaut Courtois - could have had four.

Barca have been so much better than Madrid all over the pitch in the four times they have met this year. But on the wings, their strengths have been truly decisive.

Barca's task might have been made more difficult if Ancelotti had got his selection at right-back correct. After Dani Carvajal's season-ending ACL injury, Ancelotti has picked between two players - neither of whom are naturals in the position. Lucas Vazquez, a right-winger who was pushed further back when it became clear that he wouldn't get into the side as an attacking player, is starting to look his age (33). The other option, Federico Valverde, has performed admirably in the position at times - but his qualities are also needed in the middle of the pitch.

Ancelotti went for the former, and, well, yikes. Vazquez was ritually torn apart by Raphinha for 84 minutes, pulled left and right in one of the more disastrous individual displays you'll see in El Clasico. He was at fault for at least two of the four Barca goals, and didn't offer much going the other way, either.

The good news for Madrid fans is that help is on its way in the shape of Trent Alexander-Arnold. However, Los Blancos need some more defensive grit at full-back, someone who can deal with one-on-ones, and really ensure that opposing wingers have it hard. Alexander-Arnold has been dribbled past more than anyone else in the Premier League this season, which perhaps doesn't bode well for the future of this particular match-up.

Regardless, at least the Liverpool man won't be a square peg in a round hole. Vazquez was a disaster on Sunday as he showed that he might not be able to function much more at this level. Alexander-Arnold surely has to be an upgrade... right?

The Hansi Flick character arc has made for fine watching. First, he was the genius who led Bayern Munich to every possible trophy in the 2019-20 season. He had his perfect team, a well-oiled pressing machine with Robert Lewandowski leading the line. This was modern German football at its finest. Then, he got the Germany national team job, and realised that international football is markedly slower, and no one really presses. He was the wrong fit from day one, and it was no surprise to see him dismissed just months before Germany hosted Euro 2024.

Barca, then, was a curious fit, especially given the club's history when it comes to style of play. Flick, though, has built a wonderfully balanced side. Their high line has its critics, but it worked a charm here, puzzling Mbappe and Vinicius throughout. His midfield hounded, harassed and pressed their Madrid counterparts to no end, leaving Jude Bellingham, Valverde and Dani Ceballos with no room to breathe. And they were deadly on the break.

Remember, Flick has injury issues of his own. He went into this game without his first-choice full-backs and striker while his goalkeeper was retiring this time last year - but you wouldn't have known it. Flick will win La Liga in his first season in charge along with the Copa del Rey and Supercopa, and things are only on the up for Barca.

Is Mbappe the master of scoring hat-tricks that don't matter? That's slightly harsh, of course; his trio of goals in the 2022 World Cup final played a key part in what was - and remains - one of the greatest games of football ever. Although a valiant failure, his individual performance was one for the ages.

But he did do a repeat job here, scoring three times in a loss. And there were some similarities to his performance. Like in Qatar, Mbappe was the top performer in an otherwise outplayed team. And like in that defeat to Argentina, he could - and perhaps should - have scored more.

It was, in many ways, a microcosm of the way Mbappe has functioned in this Madrid side. He has now set the record for goals in a debut season for any Madrid player, and he will likely pip Robert Lewandowski to the Pichichi. But all of his quality, all of his individual moments led to naught.

He scored three in El Clasico without playing particularly well, or making Madrid better. That's the problem with Mbappe, more broadly: for all of his talent, it's impossible not to think that he should be doing more. He is the same player at 26 that he was nearly five years ago - full of zest and quality, but allergic to defending, and immensely self-centered. Sure, without him this would have been a true blowout, but his goals only offer a thin mask over what has otherwise been a strange Madrid debut season.

Clasicos have felt a bit tepid for almost a decade now, and perhaps our expectations are all skewed by the epic battles of the early 2010s. After all, it was box-office stuff: Lionel Messi strutting off at the Camp Nou after tearing Madrid to bits; Cristiano Ronaldo hitting the 'calma' celebration; Gareth Bale sprinting five yards off the pitch before curving his run back around to burn past half of the Barca defence and win the Copa Del Rey; Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho obsessing over how to beat each other. They were some of the best games of modern football history - a true rivalry offering brilliant football and plot lines galore.

Since then, there hasn't been loads to this rivalry. Sure, the animosity is there, but it has lacked bite, star power, and genuine entertainment value. How's 23 goals in four games over the course of a single campaign to solve that problem, then?

Neither of these teams are perfect; Barca love to attack, but can't defend, while Madrid have three of the best players in world football, but are a mess everywhere else. But this game has delivered on all fronts in 2024-25. There was a bit of controversy, loads of individual class, and a game that you simply could not take your eyes off - right until the final whistle. El Clasico is back!

Nothing has been officially announced regarding Alonso and Real Madrid, but it has become an open secret that the Spaniard is Bernabeu-bound. Alonso has confirmed that he is leaving Bayer Leverkusen, and enjoyed a wonderful send off from the fans on Sunday as he took charge of his final home game.

Right now, though, he looks to have a job on to repeat his success from Germany at Madrid. This edition of Los Blancos has become a real mess over the past 12 months, as an unbalanced squad that is short on full-backs, lacks midfield quality and is without the kind of clear No.9 that Alonso likes to use has lurched from one underwhelming performance to another.

Perhaps more notable, though, is that Madrid hasn't been this much of a media mess in ages. On the pitch, Vinicius, Mbappe and Bellingham can't figure out how to play with each other while Rodrygo has become an afterthought - so much so that he didn't even make it off the bench on Sunday; off it, the club's continued attacks on referees have reinstated their villain status both in Spain and around Europe.

So while managing Real Madrid is always an alluring prospect, and while any coach would want to work with Bellingham, Vinicius and Mbappe, is it really worth it for this mess? Alonso's about to find out.