Barcelona extended their lead at the top of the La Liga table to 12 points with only 12 matches remaining thanks to the famous Clasico victory.
A Ronald Araujo own goal would open the scoring for Real Madrid, but goals from Sergi Roberto and substitute Franck Kessie would seal the victory for Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
The pace of the game was set early on by two long tries from star nines Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema – both of which forced clever saves from the opposing goalkeepers.
In the fifth minute, Barcelona created the first good chance of the match. A fine ball to the back post from Frenkie de Jong found Rafinha, whose subsequent header was seen brilliantly by Thibaut Courtois.
Just a few minutes later, Barcelona felt sorry for the missed opportunity as Real Madrid took the lead. And the goal will come in the most unlikely of circumstances, as Vinicius Junior sent a cross from Vinicius Junior from Ronald Araujo’s head into his own net.
Barcelona would press real hard after that and came close to equalizing in the 23rd minute. Ex-Chelsea player Andreas Christensen had the opportunity, who jumped high near the near post to catch a cross from Rafinha, but was unable to keep his resulting header off goal.
The Brazilian forced Courtois to make another fine save on the half-hour mark, slashing across the field and unleashing a powerful strike on goal – which was well turned over by Real Madrid’s first-place finisher.
In the last minute of the first half, the hosts finally got their goal through Sergi Roberto. The midfielder reacted well to control Rafinha’s deflected shot into the penalty area before slotting the ball into the top right corner of the net.
The start of the second half was a hotly contested one, with both sides pushing forward in search of the lead. Robert Lewandowski was close to making it 2-1 to Barcelona almost on the hour mark, when he turned and hit a superb shot from 25 yards – a shot that flew wide with a deflection.
A few minutes later, a terrible sloppy play from Sergio Busquets on the edge of the penalty area will give Rodrigo a fantastic shooting opportunity on the edge of the penalty area. The substitute seemed to panic a bit as the ball reached him, but he accelerated his technique and, as a result, smashed his shot over the crossbar.
The best chance of the second half will fall to the one player Barcelona most want to drop for: Lewandowski. The Polish striker was found completely unmarked at the back post by Busquets, but his acrobatic effort on goal, amazingly, was poorly executed and, instead of dwelling in the net, was in the Z row.
Barcelona would force Courtois to make another great save in the last 15 minutes. The Belgium international dropped well to his left to block a half-volley from Rafinha (again) to preserve the tie at 1-1.
In the final 10 minutes, Real Madrid pushed hard for an important winning goal, and thought they had it when Marco Asensio slotted home from six yards out. But after a lengthy review by the video assistant referee, the goal was ruled out for offside.
In the last minute of the match, Barcelona scored the winning goal. It came courtesy of Frank Kessie who stole at the back post to head in a superb low cross from Alejandro Balde to earn El Clasico the win for his side.
GK – Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6/10 – He made some decent balls.
Right back – Ronald Araujo – 5/10 – He scored an early own goal and put up a fierce battle with Vinicius on the wing.
Center back – Jules Conde – 6/10 – Treat Benzema well.
Center back – Andreas Christensen – 6/10 – He was a constant threat from set pieces.
Left back – Alejandro Balde – 7/10 – His great cross led to the winning goal.
Midfielder – Sergi Roberto – 7/10 – He scored a great goal to bring Barcelona level before the end of the first half.
CM – Sergio Busquets – 4/10 – Dirtier than usual on the ball sometimes.
CM – Frenkie de Young – 7/10 – He pulled his socks off and used the ball well the whole time.
Right winger – Raphinha – 8/10 – The best player in Barcelona. He caused Los Blancos a whole host of problems.
Striker – Robert Lewandowski – 7/10 – He missed some decent chances that night but his lateness was exceptional.
LW – Gavi – 6/10 – He ran himself to the ground.
SUB – Frank Casey – 10/7 – A great finish with winning the match for Barcelona.
SUB – Ansu Fati – N/A.
SUB – Ferran Torres – N/A.
GK – Thibaut Courtois – 8/10 – He made a number of great saves.
Right back – Dani Carvajal – 4/10 – Struggle to move forward. You can see why he’s been criticized lately.
Central defender – Eder Militao – 5/10 – Not a bad walk.
Center back – Antonio Rudiger – 6/10 – Lewandowski had his hands full. He did well.
Left back – Nacho Fernandez – 3/10 – poor. The first man to be laid off.
Midfielder – Luka Modric – 4/10 – He was not at his best and struggled to deal with De Jong’s energy.
CM – Eduardo Camavinga – 4/10 – He’s much better as a left back. Carlo, play him left back.
CM – Toni Kroos – 4/10 – A quiet stroll of the German legend.
Right winger – Federico Valverde – 2/10 – Nil performance.
ST – Karim Benzema – 5/10 – Catch the ball well at times but didn’t get served on Sunday night.
Left wing – Vinicius Junior – 6/10 – His cross led to the opening goal. At the heart of all the good Real Madrid have done.
SUB – Ferland Mindy – N/A.
SUB – Rodrigo – 5/10 – A good opportunity was missed when it was presented.
SUB – Aurelien Tchouameni – N/A.
SUB – Marco Asensio – 5/10 – Score an offside goal.
SUB – Dani Ceballos – Unavailable.
