With experience and provocation: why did Yamal fail to escape Cucurella's pocket?
A clásico to forget for the Barcelona star
El Clasico witnessed a special confrontation between the two owners of the number 10 shirt, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe, who were the centre of attention before and during the match, as the most prominent stars of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The French star settled the contest clearly in his favour, scoring twice. Yamal, meanwhile, endured a lacklustre night in the first Clasico he had played at the Spotify Camp Nou.
Barcelona's teenager fell well short of his usual level. He faced a difficult opponent who closed down the spaces in front of him for long spells, and he never found the solutions to break through.
According to the Spanish newspaper "AS", Yamal once again found himself up against his Spain national team teammate, Marc Cucurella, who managed to stop him, just as he had done when he wore the Chelsea shirt in the Champions League.
Cucurella did not settle for limiting Yamal's threat. He succeeded in provoking him at certain moments, especially as the Real Madrid player escaped a yellow card despite committing repeated fouls, including four in a row.
Time and again Yamal demanded the foul and tried to get past his opponent, but Cucurella's strength and determination told. The full-back tracked his movements closely, unsettling him and cutting down his chances of dribbling clear with an advantage.
Gone was Yamal's usual ability to dribble, create and beat opponents with ease. It was a heavy blow to the player and to Barcelona, coming after the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, and the enthusiasm that had surrounded the team seemed to have receded.
His body language gave him away. The owner of Barcelona's number 10 shirt looked frustrated, protesting frequently and voicing his disagreement, whether at the referee's calls or out of a sense that he could not change the game.
Between Cucurella's marking and Barcelona's poor display, Yamal was dragged out of the Clasico entirely, losing his calm and self-control in the process.
Wasting a clear chance in such a manner is not like him. Shortly before half-time he was through one-on-one with goalkeeper Lunin, only to shoot wide of the goal.
The numbers confirmed it. Yamal failed to produce the level he had shown in recent matches, shooting five times without hitting the target, with his passing accuracy at 77%. He lost the ball 25 times and beat the opposing full-back just four times from nine attempts.
He did show good defensive commitment, recovering four balls, in a Clasico he will be keen to forget.
