All hail Pep

Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona

Madridistas around the world should be grateful for what happened on Saturday night at the Bernabéu. Celebrating a historic defeat isn't perhaps what most people thought about doing when the final whistle sounded, but the astonishing display by Barcelona highlighted what many people had conveniently forgot in recent weeks, or simply didn't want to talk about. We should thank Pep Guardiola for masterminding this lesson.

A 6-2 thrashing underlined the scale of the problem at Real Madrid. It is the second time this season that the team has been overwhelmed and embarrassed by a club that ought to be it's equal, at least. And worryingly, it happened in the two competitions that the Blancos should be disputing - the Champions League and La Liga.

In truth the 6-2 was unfair. Madrid's two goals were well taken headers from Higuaín and Sergio Ramos, but Juande's team didn't really merit two goals. By the same token, Barcelona should have hit double figures. Iker was largely to credit for them not making it 10, or 11, or 12, but we are beyond Saint Iker by now. The team was steamrolled by the creativity, imagination, finesse and pace of Barcelona.

The clásico puts the 18 match undefeated run in perspective. The draw at Atlético Madrid, sandwiched in between wins against Valencia, Villarreal, Mallorca, Osasuna, Deportivo, Numancia, Racing, Sporting, Betis, Espanyol, Athletic, Almería, Málaga, Valladolid, Recreativo, Getafe and Sevilla, means nothing. The aggregate score between Barcelona and Real Madrid this season was 8-2 in favour of the culés. Enough said.

Just as at Anfield, players were proved to be out of their depth, there was a certain naivety in the side, as if a decent local under-18s side had decided to try their luck in the adult leagues, only to be humiliated in the first game playing with the big boys.

The result hinged on timing. No sooner did Real Madrid take the lead, Barcelona not only equalised but edged in front. Just as they appeared to have weathered the storm an uncharacteristic mistake from Lass gifted Messi the third and it stayed at 3-1 for the break. Two minutes is all the Bernabéu could dream of a comeback after Sergio Ramos pulled one back, as Henry grabbed his second to make it 4-2. Messi's second was stunning, the sight of the young canterano centre back Piqué  scoring a wonderful sixth said everything about the difference between these two clubs.

Enough already. Change will come this summer, and hopefully an overhaul of the playing staff and decision makers (exit Pedja) will happen. But one final thought. The last time Barcelona taught Real Madrid a lesson at the Bernabéu happened fairly recently in the 3-0, when a majestic Ronaldinho was applauded by the home side's fans. The president sat next to the smug Joan Laporta on that evening was a certain Señor Florentino Pérez.