Why Real Madrid lost to Barcelona: Los Blancos suffer total mental breakdown in embarrassing El Clasico defeat

Veterans, youngsters, internationals and rookies — no one wearing the Real Madrid crest was safe from what amounted to a total and complete mental collapse.

Watching the 90 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu, it was hard to believe the team being consistently carved open was the La Liga leader and a Champions League quarterfinalist. There were moments when the ESPN commentary duo of Ian Darke and Steve McManaman couldn't even finish breaking down one Barcelona attack before another was launched.

Barcelona won 4-0, but it could have been 10-0. Every Real Madrid player should be embarrassed by the El Clasico proceedings that were anything but classic. The Bernabeu didn't even bother to jeer and whistle its home side, preferring instead to simply pack it in and head for the exits even before the hour mark.

The Big Five European leagues have seen plenty of drubbings over the years, but few came at the hands of top teams like Real Madrid, and even fewer featured the slew of pathetic mental errors that Los Blancos were guilty of. Numerous as they were, it wasn't just the mistakes themselves that made the performance so putrid. It was the sheer mental collapse that accompanied each glaring error that truly vilified Los Blancos in front of their home fans.

Where to even start?

Real Madrid defensive meltdown vs. Barcelona
Real Madrid center-backs Eder Militao and David Alaba were both a complete disaster. Line-breaking passes, off-ball runs, one-on-one charges, and even simple step-overs had the Madrid defenders on their heels.

Alaba, an extremely experienced player and leader, had at least a share of fault in each of the first three Barcelona goals, most notably misjudging a corner and undercutting the flight of the ball as Ronald Araujo headed home Barcelona's second. To compound the issue, Alaba immediately turned around and appeared to search for someone else to blame.

Militao, frustrated by the proceedings as the minutes wore on, transformed into a headless wrecking ball, unable to mark any attackers one-on-one and instead preferring to batter and bruise his opponents off the ball, complaining to the referee at every whistle.

Ancelotti gets tactics wrong vs. Barcelona
While Carlo Ancelotti deployed his typical 4-3-3 formation, he was forced into changes due to injuries. Talismanic striker Karim Benzema, the La Liga leader in goals and assists, was missing due to a calf injury, while Ferland Mendy also missed out.

In Benzema's place, Luka Modric was deployed as a false nine, a tactical head-scratcher from Ancelotti. As a result, the Croatian — a Ballon d'Or winner and World Cup finalist — looked uncharacteristically lost. The setup was changed after halftime, but the damage had been done. Modric won just one of his six ground duels throughout the game, and his typical midfield influence was neutered.

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Real Madrid mental lapses and petulance
The fourth Barcelona goal was a tragic display of mental lapse, as the entire Madrid defense stopped as the offside flag went up, seeing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang clean through, dinking the ball into the back of the net over a helpless Thibaut Courtois. VAR overturned the offside decision and the goal was given, to intense protest by Madrid players who switched off as soon as the flag went up. Even before VAR's existence, the assistant referee's flag was never the signal of a stoppage in play, merely a suggestion to the head referee whose whistle was — and remains — the deciding factor. "Play to the whistle" is schoolboy stuff.

And worst of all, Vinicius Jr., who should have to apologize for his calamitous dive in the first half. Not satisfied with what was clear and blatant simulation, the Brazilian then wagged his finger at Gerard Pique and was in the referee's ear for literal minutes. Vinicius continued to berate the official right up until the corner was delivered for Araujo's goal, at which point Real Madrid had bigger issues to worry about. It's a shock that Vinicius was not shown a yellow card not just for the simulation but also the persistent protest.

Every team, every player has bad games. Every professional — every human — makes mistakes. It was the combination of glaring errors and subsequent petulance that shone the spotlight on these particularly disgraceful 90 minutes.

In all likelihood this result won't harm the La Liga title charge for Real Madrid. However, it's not always about the destination. For Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Sunday, it was about the journey. A gutless, mentally truant journey.

Los Blancos surely have some soul searching to do after this performance on this stage against this bitter rival.