No matter what you read or hear elsewhere, it's a fact that Real Madrid did not lose this Clasico, in which they were utterly thrashed, "because Karim Benzema was out." Don't accept that: It's glib, it hides some key truths and it is a little typical of the modern obsession with one-phrase analysis.
As well-planned, well-coached and as scintillatingly effective as Xavi's Barcelona were in winning 4-0, a scoreline that could have been 8-0, Spain's champions-elect were truly awful individually and collectively. It starts with the coaching team themselves.