Since the defeat to Atletico Madrid early last season, Real Madrid have not lost any more in La Liga until the match against Barcelona. With just a draw against Blaugrana, Los Blancos will equal their opponent's record of 43 unbeaten matches in the tournament.
However, after a goalless first half when Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid missed many opportunities, Carlo Ancelotti's team was devastated by a cruel Barca. Before defeating the "White Vultures", Barcelona had an incredible start to the season under new coach Hansi Flick.
For Mbappe, this was his first El Clasico after joining the Bernabeu this summer from PSG. Before that, the French striker had a very good relationship with Barca when he scored 6 goals in 4 matches. However, that has not been maintained by Mbappe in the royal shirt.
A missed situation from the beginning of the match started a sad night for Mbappe. This was a match in which the Real striker was repeatedly caught in the offside trap. The 2018 World Cup winner even celebrated but was later left disappointed when the goal was disallowed.
In total, Mbappe was caught offside six times in the first half, more than in any previous match in his career. In the next 45 minutes, the Les Bleus captain was caught offside twice more times. In the last 15 La Liga seasons, no player has been caught offside more times than Mbappe in a match.
In fact, Mbappe had a number of good chances to finish but was successfully blocked by goalkeeper Pena. This is a complete contrast to what Robert Lewandowski showed at the other end of the pitch.
This was not a disastrous start to Mbappe's career at the Bernabeu. But this was a match where Mbappe was expected to make a difference.
The Frenchman has now scored eight goals in all competitions. However, Real Madrid fans are still waiting for him to form a new attack with Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
"Barcelona completely lost Mbappe. The constant war with the offside flag seemed to have lost Mbappe's spirit. Mbappe's first El Clasico ended like an early Halloween nightmare for the French player" - Spanish newspaper AS described Mbappe's performance against Barcelona.
Of course, this was only Mbappe's first El Clasico and there were many opportunities for him to correct his mistakes. Failure is inevitable, what matters is how Mbappe gets up.
