Real Madrid have endured a mixed start to the season, winning five of their seven La Liga games so far and sitting six points behind league leaders Barcelona.
The Catalan club, by contrast, have looked unstoppable, enjoying a perfect start to the new season and looking on course for a third straight league title.
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Los Blancos‘ difficult start to the season is apparently providing some amusement inside Barcelona, where confidence is understandably high.
Barcelona enjoying Madrid’s problems
According to El Chiringuito journalist Jose Alvarez, Barça‘s players are enjoying Madrid’s current situation and are already particularly motivated by the prospect of the first Clasico of the season.
From a Real Madrid perspective, those comments should sting.
Their closest league rivals have not given them a chance in the past couple of seasons and have only seemed to grow stronger.
Barcelona have enjoyed a perfect start to the new season. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, Madrid look like a team who are still figuring out combinations and are not yet settled under Jose Mourinho.
There is also plenty of noise surrounding Madrid beyond the results.
Vinicius Junior‘s form is under scrutiny, Mourinho is still searching for greater creativity and control in midfield, and the usual Mbappe-Vinicius problem is also cropping up.
Madrid were also furious about the refereeing against Atletico, and their complaints over key decisions are part of the story.
However, Mourinho will know that fixing the footballing issues is ultimately more important than winning the argument about what happened at the Metropolitano.
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Football is a sport of glorious uncertainties
Momentum in football can change in the space of a week, and the three-week international break could help Madrid.
Real Madrid will have to respond on the pitch against Barcelona. (Photo by Mateo Villalba Sanchez/Getty Images)
It gives Mourinho the option to take a step back, recalibrate and see what issues can be addressed after the break.
Madrid will get their opportunity to answer in the Clasico. The important thing is that they are in better shape to take on that fixture than they are right now.
Six points at this stage of the season can disappear quickly, but the psychological dynamic is currently obvious.
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Barça are winning, confidence is flowing and their dressing room is making the most of it.
For Madrid, the most effective way to change the mood around this rivalry is not through words, but by ensuring Barcelona have considerably less to smile about when the two teams finally meet.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
