Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid celebrates after scoring a goal which is later disallowed following an offside decision via a VAR Review, during the LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday in Madrid, Spain. Photograph: Angel Martinez/Getty Images
After a couple of months absorbing the concussive style of football that has defined the Premier League’s 2025-2026 season, watching Real Madrid’s 2-1 win against Barcelona was a weird experience.
There are no long throws. Even corners and free-kicks in the opposing half are often taken short rather than swung in on top of the keeper. The players awaiting the delivery in the middle behave weirdly too. They are conspicuously just standing around waiting, rather than moving with hostile intent in complex choreographed patterns. Nobody is blocking or crowding. Nobody has the goalkeeper in an armlock.
Real Madrid did actually hire their first ever set-piece coach a few weeks ago, but based on this showing we are still wa
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