Valverde: "This result is a lesson for everyone"

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde contained his euphoria at the end of Saturday's Clasico, despite Barcelona's 3-0 win leaving Real Madrid's title hopes in tatters. 

The Basque coach maintained his cautious approach, saying that the result "is a lesson for everyone, in preseason they played really well and were better. Today, it was our turn. Football changes a lot."

Valverde was coherent in his analysis before the said that "I don't think we have one hand on La Liga, I don't know, we’re not even half way through the season yet. There’s still a long way to go. We’re at the top and we have a good lead, but that doesn’t mean anything because nothing is decided in December."

His explanation for the first half problems was that "[Madrid] pressed us high at start and reinforced in the centre of park, where it was practically man to man. We could not play as we are used to, we had to get past their first line of pressure, and from there play. In the second half we were able to get past their first line of pressure. It was more difficult in the first half."

Despite the win, Valverde said he never felt the game was won until full time, even after Dani Carvajal was sent off: "At 2-0 we didn’t think the game was won, we never wrote Madrid off. We didn’t stop going forward, while Madrid created more chances with 10 men than with 11."