SOCCER: Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 3:WHEN IT came to offering an explanation, Jose Mourinho favoured fortune but he did not convince. Fifteen successive victories came to an end when Real Madrid were defeated 3-1 by FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite scoring the fastest goal in a clasico. Twenty-three seconds was all it took for Karim Benzema to give them the lead; by the full-time whistle, though, that felt like a distant memory. Alexis Sanchez, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas sent Barcelona back to the top of the table on the night that Madrid had prepared to tilt the balance of power in Spain.

“The result,” said the Madrid coach, “was a consequence of football. It’s a game and luck plays a big part.” Mourinho noted that Leo Messi might have been sent off for a second yellow card, but this was not the normal conspiratorial discourse: “I was 40 or 50 metres away from it so I don’t want to say it was the wrong decision because that might be unfair,” he noted. Instead, he focused on the moments that could have gone his side’s way; the chances Madrid missed and the goals Barcelona scored.

At 1-0 Cristiano Ronaldo scuffed a clear opportunity and he also missed a simple header. Kaka’s late shot skidded wide off Victor Valdes. Then there was Barcelona’s second goal – Xavi’s deflected shot squirmed in via the post as Iker Casillas scrambled back across goal.

“That was pure luck,” Mourinho said. “It was not talent, it was not a mistake, nothing – it was just lucky. At 1-0 we had a chance to make it 2-0 and Cristiano, who’s a fantastic player, normally scores those. Then Kaka’s shot went wide off Valdes, which was lucky, too.”

Perhaps. But there was also an inescapable reality here: Barcelona were simply superior. Were? Are. Madrid’s winning run was no guarantee. On the evidence of Saturday night, they are not in quite such rude health after all. The good news is Madrid only face them twice a season in the league; it is true, as Mourinho noted, that they will return to the top if they win their game in hand, and they may remain favourites for the title. But still this hurt.

Every game against Barcelona is not just important in its own right but as part of a learning process – a search for the solution, a plan. Mourinho has tried a number of approaches with different personnel and different formations. On Saturday, he bemoaned his side’s passivity; they have tried ultra-aggressive before.

They have been defensive and attacking, played high up and sat deep. Only once has it worked – and even then, although they probably deserved the victory, they scored an extra-time winner and had Casillas to thank for rescuing them. The very next game, Mourinho employed entirely different tactics.

This time, Madrid appeared secure: bold and aggressive, quicker and more decisive, than ever before. Mourinho’s teams are better in the second season was the mantra, repeated over and over. It was true, too. But Barcelona are another proposition altogether, a team that make very good sides look very ordinary.

A formula that is valid against Valencia may not work against Barcelona. Mourinho has not yet found the definitive way. This was a better Madrid and a Barcelona assailed by doubts. But again Madrid, despite the perfect start, were defeated.

With each passing game, the trauma grows; there is a psychological element to it now, a sense of anxiety. Again, the question is raised: how should Madrid approach their rivals? How do they stop Messi? How do they wrest control? Is it best to assimilate their inferiority and play defensively, despite the talent they have? In Spain, that question has transcended the tactical, becoming almost a moral issue. There are many questions. The search for a successful identity continues.

Barca’s coach, Pep Guardiola, praised his side because even when they trailed, even when they doubted, they remained faithful to their philosophy, their identity. They have one. When it comes to the clasico, Madrid still do not. Maybe that is the greatest difference of all.

REAL MADRID: Casillas, Coentrao, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Alonso, Diarra (Khedira 63), Di María (Higuaín 68), Ozil (Kaka 58), Ronaldo, Benzema. Subs not used: Adán, Albiol, Arbeloa, Callejón. Booked: Alonso, Diarra, Pepe, Ramos.

BARCELONA: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Fabregas (Keita 79), Iniesta (Pedro 89), Sanchez (Villa 84), Messi. Subs not used: Pinto, Mascherano, Maxwell, Thiago. Booked: Sanchez, Messi, Pique.

Referee: David F. Borbalán