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Barcelona dropping three points against Osasuna was not a result many saw coming, especially given the momentum the Catalans were riding on.
Hansi Flick’s extensive rotations saw a team filled with fringe players take to the field at El Sadar earlier this week and fall to defeat, however, opening the doors for Real Madrid to close the gap with a win in the derby at the Civitas Metropolitano.
As it turned out, however, the men in white were held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid on the night, meaning that they managed to cut their deficit with Barcelona by just one point.
The reaction in Catalonia
As revealed in a recent update by AS, the sensations in the Barcelona dressing room after the Madrid derby result were of relief as Carlo Ancelotti’s men failed to capitalise on their rare opportunity.
“It has been a lesser evil,” figures in the dressing room said after the game as the situation would have been much worse had it not been for Angel Correa’s late equaliser.
The Madrid derby ended in a 1-1 draw. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)Flick’s men still have a three-point lead over their arch-rivals heading into Matchday 9, having collected 21 of a possible 24 points.
With the team playing Alaves at the weekend, moreover, their position at the top of the table heading into the international break is all but confirmed. After all, both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have challenging fixtures in Villarreal and Real Sociedad respectively.
The Spanish outlet also brings to light the reaction of Barcelona players to the suspension of play during the derby fixture for objects being hurled at Thibaut Courtois from the stands.
Needless to say, there was unanimous support for the mature handling of the situation by the referee for the players agreed that there was no place for such attitude in the stands.
All in all, the players are happy with how matters have turned out on Matchday 8 despite the defeat and know that better days are coming. After all, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo are all at the doorstep of recovery.
