Sergio Ramos' two crimes during El Clásico
Like the rest of the Real Madrid team, Sergio Ramos seemed shell-shocked by Wednesday's 0-3 Cup defeat as well as the shift in power in terms of the overall results in the direct meetings between two of world football's most esteemed clubs. If the startled look on his face immediately after Luis Suárez fired in the opener on Wednesday portrayed the shock at his own lapse in concentration, his failure to keep track of Rakitic when Barça took the lead yesterday only underlined the sensation of vulnerability Solari's Madrid are displaying in every game. The only difference between last week's Clásico and yesterday's was that while Madrid showed the same accuracy in front of goal, in other words, none at all, Barcelona were not quite as effective in the second game - and they will certainly need to be against Olympique Lyon a week on Wednesday.
I'm sure that the image that will remain in fans' minds from this Clásico will be the one of the Messi and Sergio Ramos, their heads locked in an aggressive stand-off. I don't think Ramos intentionally set out to hurt Messi, although he was reckless in the challenge. He raised his elbow to Vidal as well. That said, whenever he was on the receiving end, like when Lenglet came in late on him, he didn't complain. Madrid's main problem isn't Ramos - it's the team's inability to find the net; the long shadow left by Cristiano's departure remains and the flippant indifference at rebuilding the squad properly and failure to pinpoint its needs has already claimed one victim in Lopetegui. Real Madrid meanwhile, are once again left on a wing and a prayer in the Champions league, out of the Copa and with no chance of winning LaLiga. With morale at its lowest since the season started, Tuesday's meeting with Ajax is now looking like a potential stumbling block which won't be easy to negotiate.