In the 76th minute, with 1-1 on the scoreboard and thinking there was not much to lose, Carlo Ancelotti went all in as Real Madrid made one final push for La Liga. The Italian introduced a triple change, with Aurelien Tchouameni, Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos replacing Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde and Luka Modric.

In other words, the most expensive midfielder (€80million plus €20m in variables) in the club’s history, and two players whose contracts are up on June 30 and who have yet to renew, entered the pitch. The team improved and in the 82nd minute were rewarded with a goal that changed everything, or again, so they thought at the time.

In a move that heavily featured another substitute in Rodrygo, Asensio found the net from a Dani Carvajal cut-back to unleash white madness in one corner of the Camp Nou pitch. There was a similar scene down around the bench; suddenly everyone was in improvised Cibeles mode.

But Madrid’s joy soon fizzled out. The VAR disallowed Asensio’s goal for an extremely tight offside, a question of millimetres by by the club’s estimation in its official match report. The whole sequence was demoralising: from ecstasy, incomprehension and surprise, to tension, disappointment and indignation. The gestures of those both on the pitch and off it spoke of a tortuous cycle for the away side.

There was worse to come. In the 92nd minute Franck Kessie decided Sunday’s Clasico and surely this year’s league title with it. Barcelona’s home ground erupted, players and coaching staff running together, lost in harmony, as one would celebrate a golden goal in extra-time. Such was the uproar that, because of the meltdown between players and fans, there were incidents in one stand and security workers had to act.

Madrid’s players looked blank, unable to find explanations. Some approached the referee. A few seemed to at least be thinking about how to find the draw, but in truth there was little time to react.

An almost imperceptible line separating success from failure punished them in the most bitter circumstances. From 1-2 up to 2-1 down. From cutting Barca’s lead to six points to seeing them stretch it out to 12, in just six minutes.

At the final whistle Carvajal and Arnau Tenas, Barcelona’s sub goalkeeper, came together in a heated argument and had to be separated by several bodies including Jordi Alba and Thibaut Courtois. Some Madrid players gathered around the match officials team at the mouth of the tunnel as goalkeeper coach Luis Llopis exchanged views with the referee and his assistants. Courtois was the only one who waved to the crowd.

GO DEEPER

What do Real Madrid really think about Barcelona’s corruption charges?

Behind the scenes there was anger and frustration, too. Right up to the end it looked like a fight might break out and Ancelotti’s side did not like Gavi’s attitude, especially in his altercations with Ceballos. They pointed out that one thing is toughness on the pitch, another altogether a lack of sporting behaviour, accusing the Barca midfielder of the latter. The call to disallow Asensio’s goal was again questioned.

“We are sad, frustrated,” a dressing room source told The Athletic. “What happened? A guy looking at a TV in Madrid has decided La Liga.”

Meanwhile, at the press conference, Carlo Ancelotti gave further voice to those doubts about the VAR. He said: “The disallowed goal? I don’t know, I really don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m leaving with this doubt. If the VAR is sure…

“I leave this match very proud. I don’t think we deserved to lose today.”

These two last sentences were not just for show. Club sources told The Athletic that the Italian and his coaching staff spoke to players after match with the intention of giving them confidence for the rest of the season and to make it clear that in the last two matches they have been good, even if this result did not reward them.

The coaching staff did not like Xavi’s statements after the game, saying that Barcelona had been superior to Madrid. The analysis from their side was of an even contest from which they deserved more, a match that escaped them due to what they considered to be a controversial decision, even if the offside call on Asensio was correct.

In a first review conducted in the dressing room, the way they managed the match was considered to be correct. One source said: “They criticise us for the changes, but it was precisely because of those changes that we came closer to victory, it was when we were at our best.”

Asensio’s celebrations were short lived, and Kessie grabbed the winner for Barca in injury time (Photo: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Above such voices, out in the Barcelona night, the home fans were still singing, and one chant was directed at Madrid’s club president Florentino Perez. “Where is Florentino?” was the question, sung in mockery by a Camp Nou already emptied of Madrid players as the home side and their fans lingered in celebration of victory.

To backdrop of the investigation into Barca’s payments to former referees chief Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a very real controversy that has dominated the headlines in Spain, Perez did not show up in Barcelona. Madrid last week announced their decision to participate in the legal action against Barca.

GO DEEPER

How Barcelona sees the Negreira scandal: Shame, disbelief and rallying cries

Perez, who usually travels with the team away from home and has been a regular spectator at the Camp Nou in the past, stayed in Madrid to watch the club’s basketball team instead. They also lost.

The rival fans remembered him. His own fans, too. Because if this was a defeat that seemed to settle the destiny of the league title, it left plenty of other things up in the air.

Would a winning goal have changed Asensio’s situation? Are there now doubts about Modric’s renewal? Is Ancelotti in danger? Why is there no alternative to the injury-hit Karim Benzema? Will there be a revolution this summer?

Over the two weeks ahead, with no club football to be played, we may start to see some of the answers.

(Top photo: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)