From the Vinicius substitution mess to Rodrygo's strange absence: "Punishment? It's no big deal."

Real Madrid's desperation and lack of order were evident during the first half, when Barça crushed Real Madrid's title dreams, but their ceiling was reached in the 73rd minute. Vinicius hurt his ankle and raised his hands to the bench. He made a clear request to be substituted, making the classic finger gesture. At that moment, Carlo Ancelotti looked at Davide , who called over Endrick , who was warming up on the touchline.

The Whites had just scored the 4-3 and had 20 minutes to try to avoid dying on the brink of relegation. Vinicius, visibly limping, seemed helpless, and Endrick was the option to create damage in space. The young Brazilian forward changed and approached the line alongside Chendo while Ancelotti gestured for Vinicius to drop to the ground. But at that moment, the former Flamengo player, still struggling, asked him to wait .

Ancelotti listened, halted the substitution, and Endrick put his sweatshirt and bib back on while Vinicius tried to stay in the game. He received the ball, cut inside, and shot very, very lightly at goal while his teammates, especially Fede Valverde, got angry at him, waving their arms.

At that moment, in the 83rd minute and with Madrid already losing the league title, Endrick finally came on, but for Lucas . And three minutes later, Vinicius again asked for a permanent substitution . The bench couldn't understand, and neither did Valverde, once again angry.

Three goals in the League in 2025

" I made the substitution , not him. He tried, it bothered him, and he asked for it," summed up Ancelotti coldly, who had little desire to analyze the match beyond the game itself and was very curt in his important responses.

Vinicius provided two assists for Mbappé , but his performance over the 83 minutes was far from his best. Erratic with the ball, unable to beat Eric García and lacking in defensive focus, he once again had a worrying performance, especially in front of goal. He has only three La Liga goals in 2025 .

Rodrygo, without minutes

The other key player in Madrid's attack, aside from Mbappé, was Rodrygo , but due to his absence. The former Santos player, a regular for Carletto all season despite his inconsistency, didn't get a single minute in the Clásico. A week ago, against Celta Vigo, he was ruled out with a fever, and although he trained all week with the rest of his teammates, he didn't make it onto the pitch. The question to Ancelotti was straightforward: "Is Rodrygo being punished?" "No, there isn't. Absolutely nothing has happened . He's tried to recover these past few days but he wasn't feeling well. Putting him on for five minutes when he's not feeling well is just a risk," the Italian explained.

And between the two, Mbappé, who added another hat-trick, leads the Pichichi and is fully in the fight for the Golden Boot . He has 27 goals in La Liga, two more than Lewandowski, and 54 points in the continental award standings. Salah is one goal ahead and both are in the shadow, minimal (1 point), of Gyokeres, the Sporting Lisbon striker who has accumulated 38 goals, although in his case they are only multiplied by 1.5 and not by 2 as it is a lower league.

Insults to youth player Víctor Muñoz

The last protagonist of the Madrid attack at Montjuic was youth player Víctor Muñoz . He came on for Vinicius and had a clear chance to equalize in the closing stages, but his shot went wide. He left the field hurt and emotional, and social media hasn't helped. The player, who came through Barça's youth teams and now has 10 goals and 7 assists for Raúl's Castilla , has had to close the comments on his posts due to the insults from fans, who took it out on him on his first-team debut.

Madrid now faces a difficult week. The team plays Mallorca on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. at the Bernabéu , in what could be the final farewell to La Liga if they don't win and what will surely be a test of Ancelotti and the squad.

The Whites are also expected to officially announce the Italian's departure at the end of the season in the coming days, with Xabi Alonso expected to arrive once the season is over. Ancelotti is also pending on the Brazilian national team's squad list for the June international break.