Barcelona and Real Madrid suffer pre-break slumps

Big clubs can sometimes struggle against weak opposition after their players have been away on World Cup duty. On Sunday, Barcelona and Madrid managed to break new ground by slipping up before the international break.

Both sides were coming off tricky Champions League fixtures in Germany. Both sides were missing their key playmakers, Leo Messi and Luka Modric. Both managers indulged in a bit of rotation. Both came a cropper.

It seems silly to talk of a crisis at Real Madrid, still unbeaten this season, but this is the fourth match running which they have drawn when they should have won.