El Clasico last night between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona ended with the visitors having had the last laugh at the Santiago Bernabeu. Thanks to two goals from Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, and an own goal from French World Cup winner, Raphael Varane, Real Madrid lost 0-3 to the Catalan giants.
Vinicius Jr and Lucas Vazquez were given the nod ahead of Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio, while Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho and Arthur started on the bench.
It was a disappointing night for the men in white, as they did everything possible in attack to break down the stubborn FC Barcelona defence, but were unable to, thanks to a heroic performance by goalkeeper Andre ter Stegen.
After this heavy and embarrassing defeat against their big-time rivals Barcelona, Real Madrid definitely have some points to ponder upon, if they are to bounce back from this debacle and focus on their remaining matches this season. Let's look at some of them!
#1 Improve on their finishing
In Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr, and Lucas Vazquez combined, Real Madrid had 14 shots, as compared to FC Barcelona's 4 in the match last night, and it was literally a shame for the galacticos that even after dominating the game for 90 minutes, they suffered the defeat by a 3 goal margin.
Out of the 14 shots Real Madrid had in the match, only 4 were on target, while FC Barcelona had 2 out of the 4 on target, which resulted in the two goals they scored.
Real Madrid should actually work on their finishing if they are to grab their chances, in big matches like last night, and definitely in league matches against smaller oppositions.
#2 Drop Benzema and play Bale or Asensio as false 9
Karim Benzema has been at Real Madrid for a long time now, but definitely, even the Madrid fans would agree that the Frenchman is not a very explosive striker, like Barcelona's Luis Suarez or Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa.
Madrid should actually consider dropping Benzema and playing Gareth Bale or Marco Asensio in the false 9 position. This might be the answer to their attacking problems, because Madrid have a lot of talent in their midfield, and due to playing a striker up front, there are limited places in the starting XI.
There is also no doubt that every Madrid midfielder is a proven goal scorer, and so this strategy might actually help the club perform better in the opposition half. Also, if there are more midfielders on the pitch, they can also fall back during the times when the team has to defend.
#3 Play Marcelo ahead of Sergio Reguilon in important games
There is absolutely no doubt that the 22-year-old Spanish left-back, Sergio Reguilon, is one of the successors for Marcelo at Real Madrid, after having consistently performed better to keep Marcelo out of the starting XI.
But, the left back is still an inexperienced player when it comes to big games like the El Clasico, or the Madrid derby, and even Champions League elimination rounds.
Marcelo, on the other hand, has a lot of experience playing in the position for the Galacticos, having contributed to all the major trophies Madrid have won in the last 5 years. Also, Marcelo is a better option than Reguilon when it comes to attacking from the left flank, as the latter still seems not confident going forward during counter attacks.
Reguilon still should be the backup option for Marcelo and not his replacement, at least for a few seasons, starting from right now, and should be playing games against smaller opposition to gain more experience and depth in his game.