The best way to understand how much Real Madrid's 4-0 loss to arch-rivals Barcelona hurt Los Blancos is to see their reaction at full time.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti shook hands with his counterpart Hansi Flick at the Bernabeu and then pointed the finger at one of the German's assistants for celebrating a goal. The Italian then disappeared into the tunnel with his players while Barca enjoyed the moment on the pitch.

Sources close to the team – who, like everyone quoted in this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships – say there was a long period of silence after the team retreated to the locker room. The players were lost in their own thoughts.

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No one spoke to the media to explain what happened. In any case, due to an ongoing dispute between the club and the competition, they do not speak to the La Liga rights holders, but do not even address the club's official channel, Real Madrid TV, or appear in the mixed zone.

Four days earlier, it was a completely different story after a thrilling 5-2 comeback win against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. But after this devastating defeat, joy quickly turned to concern.

Ancelotti's coaching staff insist they have confidence in their work. After that defeat, the board gave no indication that a decision on the coach's future was imminent.

Ancelotti tried to find the positive in the defeat (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“We have to go to Valencia (Madrid plays there in their next La Liga game on Saturday) to win and be united,” the club's director of institutional relations and former player Emilio Butragueno told Real Madrid TV. “When there is defeat, we must be united.”

Butragueno was the only other club official to speak to the media that evening alongside Ancelotti, who tried to highlight the positive. “The last time we lost 4-0 to Barca, we won La Liga and the Champions League,” the 65-year-old said in his press conference, referring to the result in March 2022.

But Madrid have problems that go beyond results.

Two days before the game, a report from Spanish broadcaster Relevo suggested there was skepticism in the dressing room about the team's physical preparation, overseen by coach Antonio Pintus. Key players Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal, David Alaba and Rodrygo are all out with injuries, while Antonio Rüdiger missed the Clasico with muscle problems.

Some voices have complained that a lack of physical work is hampering the team and there is a lack of coordination within the staff. While tensions already existed, The athlete has learned that the publication of this article has led to even greater discontent within the team.

In the hours leading up to Clasico, this report was the focus of attention, according to dressing room sources. They confirmed that there are players and other staff who share these doubts about the alleged lack of physical preparation, but these sources said they were surprised that this was leaked before this game.

Jude Bellingham looks on after the 4-0 defeat (Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images)

There have been strong disagreements within Ancelotti's staff about this and other aspects for months. But these tensions have increased in recent weeks. The fact that they were published only highlights the difficulties behind the scenes.

Ancelotti has tried to maintain balance and smooth things over. Most of the players are behind the coach, as shown by Vinicius Junior's message after the Dortmund game when he told reporters in the mixed zone: “We cannot let Ancelotti down.”

The coach enjoys the support of director of football Santiago Solari and general manager Jose Angel Sanchez, but has always had ups and downs with president Florentino Perez – who is known to have high standards for all his managers. “We always live with our suitcases at the door,” the coaching staff previously summarized this pressure The athlete.

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That's why they looked at what they should change against Barcelona to get the best out of the team. The biggest difference was their approach with their two strikers Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe, who for once had to do the same defensive work as the rest of the team. The idea was that this would prevent Barca's passing from the back and would mean they could exploit Flick's high line.

“I've been in football for 48 years so I'm not wrong when I say the first half was good,” Ancelotti said. The game was goalless at halftime.

But the strategy didn't work because Madrid was constantly offside. Barca's high line was extremely effective, catching their opponents twelve times – eight of which were Mbappe.

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The 25-year-old Frenchman was incredibly motivated for his first Clasico. But his reactions during the game also told a story: He complained to the referee with a smile after his goal in the first half was disallowed for offside by La Liga's semi-automatic system, but seemed much more upset than the same thing in the second Halftime happened. Halftime happened.

The coaching staff are confident Mbappé will bounce back and think he has given them more power, albeit at the risk of conceding more chances at the other end. But Madrid still can't find the right balance.

Lack of coordination from central defenders Rüdiger and Eder Militao allowed Marc Casado to find space for Robert Lewandowski's first goal of the evening. Madrid then shot on target four more times – but Barca scored five times in that period, hit the post once and scored three more goals via Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.

The last two goals again showed problems in defense and overall poor performances from left-back Ferland Mendy and midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.

“After the first half we noticed that Madrid's players were very tired, so we decided to apply even more pressure,” Yamal told reporters in the mixed zone at the Bernabeu – reopening the debate about Los Blancos' physical condition .

Some voices in the locker room have criticized Pintus' methods The athletewhich they describe as not very exhaustive and old-fashioned. This, in their opinion, is something that can be improved. Others point out that all teams suffer from injuries and that many factors are responsible for this, including an intense schedule. They point to the example of Girona, who were eliminated eleven times on this matchday.

Now the question is how Ancelotti will solve things on the pitch. He did not express any self-criticism in the immediate aftermath.

“I don’t regret my plan,” he said. “It's different to the defeat against Lille (they lost 1-0 to the French in the Champions League). We felt very bad that day. We started today.”

But voices on the board justified the defeat against Lille at the beginning of the month by saying that they had only just started the season and still had to be patient. After fifteen games, they can't make the same excuses anymore.

(Top photo: Diego Souto/Getty Images)