Inside Spain: Ballon d’Or fallout, a Hollywood takedown and Real Madrid consequences

Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.

If Barcelona were euphoric after their thrashing of Bayern Munich, then you can only imagine the atmosphere after they did the same to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night, only with a clean sheet. Los Blancos are still feeling the shockwaves.

Kylian Mbappe was the object of criticism after he was caught offside 8 times during the match, and Real Madrid 13. An impressive Barcelona dismantled their most bitter rivals in the second half, with a brace for Robert Lewandowski, and one each for Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.

The criticism over their performance was paliated by the Ballon d’Or fallout, which Real Madrid were panned for, but it has distracted from the Clasico. After finding out that Vinicius Junior would not be winning – and Rodri Hernandez would – President Florentino Perez decided none of their nominees would be going in protest, with all sorts of conspiracy theories fed to the Madrid press about why he hadn’t won it.

The perfect Barcelona footballer according to Pedri?

About 16.7% Luuk de Jong.pic.twitter.com/SG65PUKGCV

— Football España (@footballespana_) October 31, 2024

A move derided globally, with Hollywood actor Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn from Lord of the Rings) even writing a letter into Spain’s biggest paper to call them embarrassing. The consequences of the Clasico will be felt further into the future though. Aurelien Tchouameni has lost his standing at the club, and Liverpool fans will be pleased to know Real Madrid are now open to offers for him. The answer is Rodri Hernandez, but Manchester City are working on a deal for him.

Barring a dramatic turnaround, it may well have been Carlo Ancelotti’s last Clasico at the Bernabeu too. While Los Blancos have no plans to remove him during the season, those at the club say he will be moved up stairs to make way for Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso in the summer of 2025. At the centre of the drama, it has also emerged that Vinicius Junior has passed on contract talks with Real Madrid in recent months.

"Is Mr. Sergio Ramos really a good guy? He is not my favourite player. The [Salah] action was brutal. Of course, he can't know it's going to hurt his shoulder, but we all know he accepted it very happily. I could never understand that mentality, I never had players like that and,… pic.twitter.com/em5yXNtADr

— Football España (@footballespana_) October 31, 2024

Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone is under fire again after they lost their unbeaten run in La Liga to Real Betis, and are now 10 points behind Barcelona. Sevilla are looking at Ansu Fati as an option for January, while Girona and Real Sociedad are keen on Eric Garcia, two members of the Barcelona squad who are not destroying everything in front of them.

Problems are never too far down the line though for the Catalan giants. The lack of a new sponsorship deal with Nike is making life difficult, and they need to register Dani Olmo in January – so far he has only be registered until then because of an emergency injury rule. If they cannot find a way to raise finances, then they will need to consider sales.

On a more serious note, the brutal ‘cold drop’ storm in the region of Valencia has caused chaos and flooding, resulting in 160 dead at the time of writing. Three days of mourning have been declared by the regional government, and all of the football in the region has been cancelled, including Real Madrid’s trip to Mestalla this weekend.

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