Barcelona's 6-1 over Alavés cures the Clásico hangover, not the doubts

Can a team cure a Clásico defeat by beating the seventh-placed side 6-1? It can cure the mood. It can't cure the problem. That is the honest reading of Barcelona's Saturday night at Camp Nou, and it's worth separating the two before the celebrations get carried away.

Barcelona arrived on the back of defeats to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and to Real Madrid in LaLiga. They left with a two-point lead at the top, as Barca Blaugranes reports, after a first half that produced four goals. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal each scored twice, Fermín López scored one himself and set up both of Raphinha's, and Anthony Gordon added a sixth off the bench. Alavés got one back through Mariano Díaz after a loose Rodri pass.

The attack is back, and that's the real good news

Let's give credit where it's due. The most encouraging thing wasn't the scoreline but who produced it. Raphinha looked to be back to his best after injury, and the same outlet's talking-points piece puts his tally at 15 for the season, as many as the entire Alavés team. Yamal's strike from outside the box capped a fine passing move, and his chipped second showed a player enjoying himself again.

In our view, that matters more than the margin. A team whose two most dangerous attackers are sharp can win ugly games in March, not only pretty ones in October. If the Clásico left any doubt about whether Flick's forward line was running on fumes, this was a decent answer. Flick himself had spoken of a lack of freshness against PSG and Real Madrid, and the rotation on Saturday, with Pedri off at halftime and Yamal gone after 70 minutes, suggests he's managing that problem rather than ignoring it.

But Alavés can't tell us anything about the defense

Here is where we'd pump the brakes. Injuries to Eric García, Andreas Christensen, Jules Koundé and Xavi Espart forced Flick into an experimental back line: Brian Fariñas, a 20-year-old making his senior debut, at right-back, João Cancelo at the other full-back spot, and Frenkie de Jong at center-back beside Pau Cubarsí. Flick said before kickoff that the players were working in unfamiliar roles but that he had great confidence in them.

It worked, and Fariñas looked comfortable. But the talking-points piece itself concedes that De Jong "wasn't really tested." Alavés set up in a tight 4-5-1 and created only a couple of chances on the counter. They are a team that last won on September 6, according to El-Balad, and yet they still got a goal out of this Barcelona. Beating a deep block with a back four that barely faced pressure tells us about Barcelona's attack. It says almost nothing about how this defense would hold up against a stronger opponent.

That's the uncomfortable asymmetry. Goals are easy to celebrate, and they come in bunches when Pedri, Fermín and Yamal are linking up. Defensive stability is boring, and it's what wins leagues.

The next week is the real exam

The schedule won't leave much room for interpretation. Aston Villa in the Champions League and Atlético Madrid in LaLiga are next, and Atlético were top before this game, after beating Levante. Flick admitted beforehand that Barcelona are in a fierce fight with Atlético, Real Madrid and Real Betis, and that returning to the top mattered. Done. Staying there is the harder task.

Our verdict: treat the 6-1 as a useful reset and a reminder that the attack is healthy, but not as evidence of a title run. If the injured defenders don't return soon, or if Flick keeps asking midfielders to patch the back line, the next two games will say far more than Saturday did. We'd bet on Barcelona to keep scoring. Whether they can stop conceding against good teams is the question, and Alavés didn't ask it.