Jude Bellingham is the new king of El Clasico! Winners and losers as Real Madrid superstar punishes wasteful Barcelona

How he must have thought he did everything right! Barcelona are short at the moment, missing four presumptive starters, and relying on a number of backups and teenagers to pick up results in a gruelling La Liga slate. And for 65 minutes, the Barca boss made it work. His midfield was excellent, while his defensive structure held firm. Vinicius, Toni Kroos and Bellingham hardly had a sniff, and the Blaugrana were dangerous on the break.

But it all went wrong. Madrid simply had a stronger bench and Xavi could only watch while his team were steadily outclassed. Perhaps this would have gone differently if the Barca manager could call on Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and even Jules Kounde at the back.

Instead, a team of bit-part players and La Masia graduates were overrun by a team who simply looked like they had been here before. Xavi didn’t really get anything wrong here. Madrid were, in effect, too good. And perhaps that’s the most demoralising thing of all.

Just when you think Luka Modric is done, just when you think he might not have any more left in the tank, he makes an impact like this that leaves you cursing yourself for ever doubting the great man.

Bellingham will dominate all of the headlines after this Clasico – and rightly so as both the game-changer and the match-winner. But Modric coming on in place of Toni Kroos was an important moment in the proceedings. The Croatian maestro, as he so often does, added poise, precision and penetration to Madrid’s play, which is precisely why Barca lost control of a game that they had been bossing.

How much longer can Modric keep doing this? Who knows? He may have been the oldest player on the pitch but he also ultimately proved one of its most influential – and on his 500th appearance for Madrid. All we can say for sure is that we’ll probably never see a player like Luka Modric ever again.

The striker has been a steady backup this year. He is certainly lacking in some areas, but it is hard to complain about his three La Liga goals and constant effort. Still, his biggest fault is that he is simply nowhere near as good as the guy he was charged with replacing.

And with Lewandowski unable to start, still recovering from an ankle injury, Ferran had to be perfect. Instead, he returned to his old erratic self. Ferran rushed things far too often, and didn’t connect with the midfield effectively enough. Indeed, the striker was often bypassed, and a peripheral figure when the Blaugrana looked to break. Ironically, they were, despite not scoring, a far more dangerous attacking team when he was removed from play after an hour.

This is likely the end of a run in the side for the Spaniard, who, for all of his hard work and good vibes, isn’t good enough to force his way into a team that has lofty ambitions.

Twenty-eight points from a possible 33, the second-best team in the league on current form, and somehow not top of the table? Few would have thought that the best team from Catalunya would be the one that plays outside of Barcelona, but Girona have been the early surprise of La Liga this season. They are a very good side. Savinho has been a revelation on the wing, while manager Michel has pieced together an exciting attacking team.

But for all of their efforts, it simply hasn’t been enough. They went into the game three points clear of Madrid and must have thought at half time that they’d have sole possession of the top spot in the league. But they could only watch as another Catalonian side were steadily outclassed. It’s not all bad here. Girona are now in second — on goal difference. And a league title is quite comfortably out of the question. Still, it would have been nice to cling onto first place for a little while longer.

There is simply no getting away from the fact that these are tough times for La Liga. Like so many other domestic competitions across the continent, the Primera Division simply cannot compete with the financial might of the Premier League. Even the emergence of the Saudi Pro League is a cause for concern in Spain, given one of the country’s most promising players, Gabri Veiga, left Celta this summer for Al-Ahli.

Truth be told, the Clasico, La Liga’s crown jewel, has also lost some of its lustre in recent years, which is hardly surprising, of course. The Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry transformed the fixture into must-watch TV for a decade. When both moved on, there was always going to be a drop in interest.

Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski made things interesting last season but the former has also departed for the Middle East, while it’s clear that time is taking its toll on the latter.

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The Clasico clearly needed new stars. Barca have unearthed more gems, in Gavi, Pedri and, perhaps most excitingly of all, Lamine Yamal, while Madrid already had Vinicius Junior, a joy to behold in full flight.

But Bellingham brings something different to the equation. He is something special, the kind of talent with a truly global appeal who might attract a whole new generation of football fans to the Clasico and, as a result, La Liga.

Indeed, it’s hard not to imagine Javier Tebas being more than a little happy with how the Englishman’s first Clasico panned out. The whole world would have sat up and taken notice. On Saturday, it really did feel like a bona fide superstar had been born.