Welcome to The Euro Debrief, the Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate rounds up some of the key stories from the latest matches across the continent. This week: After nine consecutive wins to start the season in LaLiga, Barcelona were beaten by the team they wanted to be beaten by least - losing El Clasico 2-1 to Real Madrid at Spotify Camp Nou. Kylian Mbappe scored both for Jose Mourinho's side.
It might seem strange to say so given their extraordinary start to the season, playing some thrilling football under Hansi Flick. But their targets are sky high this season and Champions League glory will depend on what they do against the strongest opponents. Following their 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in which goalkeeper Joan Garcia did well to restrict the French side to four, Barcelona could not find a way to stop Madrid from cutting through either.
Mourinho even outlined exactly how they managed to do it. "It is difficult for any attackers to attack space against Barcelona, the only solution is to do it with your midfielders," he explained afterwards. "The solution is to use midfielders like [Eduardo] Camavinga and [Jude] Bellingham to break that line and it worked." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player In his first Clasico match against Flick's Barca, Mbappe was caught offside seven times by their high line, the most by any player in a major European league in six years.
This time, Mbappe was there to win the game when Camavinga burst from deep beyond him. Barcelona remain well placed at the top of the table and will devastate most teams. But if Flick wants the Champions League, he needs to win the big games.
Inter and Atletico have dumped them out of Europe in the past two seasons. This week was a big warning. Julian Alvarez, a target for Barca in the summer and a scorer against them in that Champions League quarter-final last season, is busy building bridges in the capital instead.
Fresh from scoring his first goal of the season in midweek, he bagged the winner on Saturday. The Argentine scored the only goal at home to Deportivo A Coruna and apologised to supporters for those comments about making a 'dream' transfer. Diego Simeone praised him for his contrition and Atletico are now just two points behind Barca in second.
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