The former Real Madrid midfielder delivered the verdict live on Dutch pay-TV, where he had been handed his first assignment alongside play-by-play voice Wytse van der Goot. By full-time at Camp Nou, his assessment of Barcelona’s No. 8 had hardened.
“Pedri was absolutely dreadful and the others were also very sloppy, so De Jong has no reason to fear the competition. Opportunities will come,” Van der Vaart told Ziggo Sport, in comments reported by Voetbalprimeur.
The timing stung. De Jong had returned from injury only to come on as a late substitute, and Van der Vaart’s point was that Hansi Flick’s first-choice midfield had just handed him the argument for a recall.
Pedri assisted the goal, and still took the heat
Pedri’s night was not without a moment. His delivery from a corner routine in the 61st minute was turned in by Raphinha for Barcelona’s equaliser, a sequence Al Jazeera noted as Barcelona’s cleanest passage of play.
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Everything around it was heavier. Barcelona had 59 percent of the ball but only six shots to Real Madrid’s nine, and Kylian Mbappe punished them twice, in the 40th and 87th minutes, to seal victory for Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.
An African football tactical review framed the midfield battle in the terms Van der Vaart was circling, noting that Real Madrid “restricted the influence of Rodri and Pedri, preventing them from bringing Fermin Lopez into the game.”
Flick: ‘we weren’t 100% fresh’
Pedri took his share of the responsibility, pointing to a flat opening half: “In general, we didn’t have a great game. In the first half, we weren’t ourselves; there were a lot of things we could have done better,” he told reporters after the match.
Flick offered a similar diagnosis, placing the loss alongside Barcelona’s midweek Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. “We played against an opponent that was better than in previous Clasicos. We weren’t fresh,” he said in his post-match press conference.
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“I’m not satisfied. Today it was clear we weren’t 100% fresh.”
Flick has already told his players to switch off and recover before the staff turn to a deeper tactical review from Wednesday 28 October, with the group dispersing further this week as Lamine Yamal, Joan Garcia and Rodri head to London for the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Madrid cut the gap to three points
Real Madrid, who played without the suspended Vinicius Junior and the ill Thibaut Courtois, moved to within three points of the LaLiga leaders and are now third.
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