Barcelona's winners and losers from Clasico defeat to Real Madrid

Barcelona lost Sunday's Clasico 2-0 against Real Madrid as they were replaced at the top of the table by their rivals. They played well in the first half but fell away after the break. 

It's evident that Quique Setien and his staff have a lot to work on, although the positive is barça remain within one point of first place in La Liga. 

However, despite the defeat, some players boosted their reputation in the game, while others struggled. SPORT take a look at the winners and losers, starting with the latter...       

DOWN

DOWNMESSI: The Argentine, who always leads the team, wasn't able to take his chances as Barça ended without. goal. Courtois made a save from him in the first half and Marcelo stopped him after the break. There's a worrying trend at Barça in that they're often only as good as their captain. And the genius from Rosario -- despite playing OK -- is now five games without a goal against Madrid. 

GRIEZMANN: Movement, space creation, generosity, link play... Antoine was at his best in the first half. He drifted away in the second period. He will remember the 21st minute when he sent Alba's pullback over the bar. For all his hard work, he has still not clicked at Barça yet. 

UMTITI: Caught out in the second Barça goal by substitute Mariano Diaz. Struggling to find consistency since returning from a serious knee injury. 

ARTURO VIDAL: He is a warrior with great spirit. He runs and runs and runs. And when he has to be more direct, he gets in the box and scores, too. The problem is fitting him in Setien's system. He has been played in the middle and wide but has not yet settled under the new coach. 

DE JONG: The Dutchman's one of the players that represent the present and future of the team. Frenkie is as essential for Setien as he is for Valverde, although he's still not at his best consistently. His quality and character, though, make him one of the players that best mark Barça's style. But at the moment he needs to do more -- and the coach needs to find his exact role in the team.  

UP

UPTER STEGEN: Praised for his feet and his hands. His saves against Madrid, in another game, may have been decisive as they were spectacular. It's a fact that he is one of the leaders of the team now thanks to his reliability, performances and character. 

PIQUE: Gerard is ultra-competitive and always turns up for the big games. Beyond the misfortune of Vinicius' goal deflecting off him, the Clasico was not an exception. He cleared one off the line and was always in the right place to clear when Madrid crossed into the Barça box. Pique took huge strides forward again on Sunday, even in defeat. 

ARTHUR: What a player he would be if games lasted an hour. That's the task facing the Brazilian: contributing over 90 minutes and not fading out of games. However, when he's good, he's good, as his passing proved in the first half on Sunday. 

BRAITHWAITE: The Dane has arrived at Camp Nou with a similar spirit to Setien: to enjoy a unique and unexpected experience at the same time as showing he deserves to be here. Against Eibar, he helped set up two goals and against Madrid he almost scored straight after coming on. He will be pushing for a start next weekend.