Real Madrid Player Ratings: Vinicius, Alaba shine in 2-1 win at Barcelona

Real Madrid keep the good vibes going after picking up a 2-1 win over Barcelona at Camp Nou. This win was Real Madrid’s fourth straight Clasico win, three of which have come with Ronald Koeman in the opposite dugout. This makes it the first time a Barcelona manager has lost three Clasicos in a row since the 1935/36 season. That’s a very long time.

It shows how close all these Clasicos have been since, and speaks volume of the quality of Barcelona’s current manager, even with this squad. Remember, Barcelona had Messi still in the squad for two of those three games. Goals from David Alaba and Lucas Vazquez sealed the deal for Real Madrid, and honestly, the scoreline makes it look closer than it was. Real could’ve easily scored more, had they done a few things better.

So, how did the players do against their eternal rivals?

GK – Thibaut Courtois

In all honesty, Thibaut didn’t have a whole lot to do. He was always there to catch crosses coming his way, and, mind you, there was a LOT of them in the second half. Anyway, he was all good in a positional sense. However, he had a bunch of nervy moments while he had the ball, most of them in the first half. One specific instance I remember was when he had too much power on the pass he was trying to make to Lucas Vazquez, which resulted in the ball ending up in Barcelona’s hands for a throw-in. He could’ve done better there, but he was alright in general.

Although, towards the end of the game, Courtois scared every single Real Madrid fan in existence when he went down immediately after clearing the ball, holding his knee. It looked like he won’t be able to continue, but he was there between the sticks till the end. He looked to be uncomfortable, but still managed to finish the game. In the post-game interview, the keeper said that he wasn’t in too much pain, so it probably isn’t serious.

Rating: 6/10