Mourinho the "veteran" hunts down Barcelona on a night of balance and fatal errors

Real Madrid's real strength lay in their ability to shift between a mid-block and dropping into deeper areas, before snapping into a high press at the right moments.

They weren't simply protecting the penalty area. The plan was to control the spaces and force Barcelona into difficult decisions under pressure.

Flick, for his part, stuck to his usual high press and an advanced defensive line. But Real Madrid knew how to beat the first wave. Once they slipped past the Barcelona players charging up to win the ball back, the spaces behind the defensive line opened up, turning each escape into a direct threat on the Catalans' goal.

Here was where tactical flexibility proved its worth. Real Madrid didn't need to attack in waves. Instead they waited for the moments to reach dangerous areas with the fewest passes possible, feeding off the gaps left by Barcelona's advance.

When they did press, Los Blancos pressed with organisation, particularly from the final third. That marked a clear improvement in an area they'd been criticised for all season.

Rank this among Mourinho's finest matches in recent years. It is a reminder of his tactical gift for managing these epics, a world away from sitting deep and handing possession and control to the opponent.

Bernardo Silva's presence at the heart of midfield handed Real Madrid a vital outlet under pressure. He kept his composure in possession and read the opponent's movements superbly. But his value went beyond simply retaining the ball. He dragged Barcelona's midfielders into specific areas, prising open spaces to exploit out wide or between the lines.

Tchouaméni played his part too, bringing balance whether by securing the depth or helping circulate the ball. That stopped Real Madrid from forcing it forward.

Instead of going toe to toe with Barcelona's press, Los Blancos built their attacks patiently and waited for the right gap to open up.

Deploying Fede Valverde at right-back gave Real Madrid physical strength and pace on the counter, plus the nous to handle the wide spaces a Clásico demands.

Those qualities let him keep pace with rapid transitions. He also offered extra flexibility as Real Madrid shifted from defence into attack.

Jude Bellingham was central to it all, holding the ball under pressure from Barça's players and threatening the spaces behind their defence. He found himself in more than one dangerous position. He just didn't make the most of them.

Shackling Lamine Yamal was always going to be central to breaking up Barcelona's attacking system. The young winger is one of their main sources of creativity and chance creation, particularly when he finds space to take a man on one-on-one or run in behind. Real Madrid set out to starve him of that space and deny him the freedom to roam, with Cucurella marking him tightly and Diomande dropping back to help out defensively.

Collective cover, plus the work of the full-back and the opposite winger, cut down the danger of his movement.

Pressing the man on the ball and closing passing angles did the rest. Barcelona could no longer feed him in dangerous areas, and he was forced to drift away from the zones where he could hurt Madrid.

Raphinha through the middle, with Lamine Yamal on the right and Gordon on the left, was not enough on its own to make the attack tick. The problem lay not in the names but in whether the system could get the ball to the forwards in the right spaces, especially once the opponent disrupts one of the key men and forces a change in the routes of attack.

Pedri and the Barcelona midfield could rarely break Real Madrid's organised lines. That was out of character. Most of their players were well short of their usual level.

Barcelona's high defensive line lets them press in the opponent's areas and squeeze the distance between their lines. It becomes a weakness the moment they fail to win the ball back quickly, or when the opponent slips a pass in behind the defenders. Real Madrid set out to exploit exactly that, timing their movements rather than lumping aimless long balls forward.

Patience in building attacks sat at the heart of the plan. Players who can keep the ball under pressure, the likes of Bernardo Silva and Tchouaméni, handed Real Madrid the chance to bide their time before threading passes into the space behind.

Beat the first line of pressure, and the gap between the defenders and the goalkeeper opened up. Kylian Mbappé and Bellingham punished it time and again.

The threat didn't stop at scoring. It also forced Barcelona to drop deeper at key moments, or to hesitate before pressing with the same intensity.

So the weapon that gives Flick's side their edge in possession and control became a defensive risk. It demanded precise cover and flawless coordination across the back line.

Real Madrid's tactical superiority made the difference, but Barcelona's individual defensive errors shaped how the match played out.

Pau Cubarsi found himself at the centre of it all. His passing errors let Mbappe and the Madrid attack find the net.

The first goal came from a misplaced pass. Cubarsi gifted Mbappe a scoring chance, the ball bounced off the forward and nestled in the net.

Cubarsi was closest to intercepting a pass from the right side of the penalty area for the second, but he misjudged it. Substitute Camavinga pounced, squared it to Mbappe, and the Frenchman made it two.

Those mistakes cost Barcelona the game. They also laid bare the fragile mental state of most of their players after a stunning start to this La Liga season.