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This proved to be nearly an ideal day for the Madrid side, as they beat Barca 2-1 during the famous derby to extend the gap at the summit in the Spanish league to five points.

Bellingham notched his maiden goal in the league and setup this campaign after a challenging period recovering from surgery on his shoulder.

Mbappe showed his lethal touch when scoring, while Alonso's tactics during his debut derby on the sidelines functioned like a charm.

Yet the Vinicius Junior question came to the forefront yet again.

Dissatisfied with coming off, Vinicius complained while walking right by his manager and headed off the pitch, before reappearing to the substitute area several minutes.

Manager's Approach Delivers Success from Bellingham

In his first derby, Alonso did well, considering seven of Real's last eight managers were defeated in their initial La Liga match against their rivals.

Following the laissez-faire approach under Ancelotti fell short earlier, Alonso's positional game-model delivered an important victory.

A specialist observed, The strategy worked brilliantly. Real Madrid performed excellently, and the visitors didn't play well because of Madrid's tactics.”

Defensively, they pressed high consistently, and if they were beaten, they fell back with discipline, all players including the forward.”

“They defended with two banks spaced by five to 10 metres. Barcelona struggled to penetrate.”

The tactical change looks to be beneficial for Bellingham, who in the past had been tasked to do everything in the center and additional duties.

Theoretically the young star started wide right, but in practice he had the freedom to drift inward and support Mbappe or crash the penalty area.

The analyst added, Employing the French midfielder in the middle, you get more dynamism and better ability to close down the passing lanes.”

“That forced them to position Jude on the right-hand side. Certainly his role included to monitor Mbappe's movements in possession with room, and he found him a few times.”

“He was asked to move into the penalty area and operate on the outskirts of the area, his most effective zone. He also came inside to close the inside channels creating Barcelona's life very difficult.”

Conflict Issues Revealed

There's no doubting that supporters are fond of the Brazilian, calls for him were sung repeatedly by a fervent Madrid fans.

However recently there were various accounts in recent months that the club could entertain letting him leave if the right offer were to come in.

He will have one season to go on his contract when this term concludes, yet discussions on a renewal are at a standstill.

Vinicius' behavior when substituted late in the game indicated issues. Post-game, teammates intervened when he moved toward Yamal.

Balague said, “Everyone will have a go at him and rightly so, because it showed poor sportsmanship for Rodrygo taking his place.”

“But since being a kid, he has existed in a challenging environment, and perceives that he faces opposition.”

Such thinking is tough to overcome, especially when you consider yourself near the best player, but the team shifts the focus to Mbappe as the main man.”

“This season he has perceived that Real Madrid has not supported him. There are stories, possibly leaked by the club, or unchallenged by officials, that they might accept if someone paid a quarter-billion euros to sign him and sell him.”

“He feels all that, so when he was taken off – fairly, as he ceased tracking back as he should – in his mind he thinks why single me out?’.”

It may be challenging to build a bridge among the parties and the player now.”

Barca's Approach “Crumbles”

Following victories in each of the last season's derbies, this outing highlighted Barca's shaky beginning of the season.

Injuries have deprived the Barcelona coach of important stars including Raphinha, the striker plus others, and the approach is failing when they are missing.

The expert said, Barcelona appear are slightly off when not in possession, with less desire to win it back, with reduced intensity in pressing.”

Opponents find it simpler to attack them. If the defensive line is not perfect, as it wasn't the Mbappe goal since the defender played him onside, they are not helped by teammates failing to press the ball-carrier as expected.”

Lamine Yamal, tormentor-in-chief earlier, was well contained.

Key players weren't at their best. The youngster doesn't feel like in top condition, maybe due to injury issues