Aurelien Tchouaméni: “It was absolutely spectacular”, “It was quality”

The fans of Real Madrid have waxed lyrical Aurelien Tchouaméni for his performance during the LaLiga match with Barcelona on Sunday 26 October. The midfielder was solid at the base of midfield as Los Blancos overcame their rivals with a 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Xabi Alonso's men went into the contest with a point to show after Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal joked that the Whites were 'stealing' and 'complaining' days before the highly-anticipated clash. Although the Catalans enjoyed possession from the start, it was Real Madrid who came closest to scoring in the first exchanges.

The home side could have found themselves 2-0 up in the 12th minute. Vinicius Jr thought he had won Madrid a penalty just three minutes later, but the decision was overturned following VAR intervention. Kylian Mbappé then a goal was ruled out for a tight offside. However, it was only a temporary reprieve for Hansi Flick's side as Mbappe finally broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute after being brought down by Jude Bellingham.

It was a wake-up call Barcelonawhich was manifested as a response. The visitors equalized again in the 38th minute when Fermin López scored from Marcus Rashford's low pass.

However, Bellingham restored Real Madrid's lead two minutes before the break. Mbappé had a chance to put the game to bed in the second half from the spot but was denied by Wojciech Szczesny. The second 45 minutes were much smoother, as neither team was able to find the back of the net.

While several Whites players impressed on the night, Tchouaméni's performance did not go unnoticed by the fans. The France international had a pass accuracy of 90%, created a great chance, made eight saves and received a match rating of 7.6, according to Sofascore. After the game, fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to praise him, writing:

“Tchouameni has been absolutely spectacular. One of the best games I can remember playing.”

One fan tweeted:

“Tchouameni put in a monster performance. Tackles, blocks, line-breaking passes, he did it all. MASSIVE 👏🏽👏🏽.”

“Tchouameni was QUALITY today…my MOTM,” added another.

“Tchouameni is the MOTM, he did it all,” a fan echoed the same sentiments.

“Tchouameni was everything today 10/10,” said another.

“I hope everyone noticed Tchouameni's performance,” commented another.

The result has meant that Madrid have opened up a five-point advantage at the top of the LaLiga table.

“We deserved to win” – Aurelien Tchouaméni on Real Madrid's 2-1 win against Barcelona

Tchouaméni was delighted with his team's performance after beating Barcelona for the first time in their last five matches. Speaking after the match, he told Real Madrid TV:

“We knew we had to give it our all. The whole team played well and we deserved the win. The coach did an amazing job with the game plan. We did everything we wanted to do, pressing hard together and trying to create chances when we got the ball back. We did that and we're very happy.”

For Xabi Alonso, it became the first Real Madrid coach to win his first Clásico in LaLiga since Zinedine Zidane in 2016.