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Real Madrid moved five points clear at the top of La Liga after a chaotic victory over Barcelona.
There were three goals, three more disallowed, a missed penalty, a disallowed penalty, a red card and a fight on the touchline as Real Madrid overcame Barcelona in a chaotic El Clásico to move five points off the top of La Liga.
The hosts deserved victory after a brilliant performance to record their first victory over their arch-rivals since April 2024.
Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham were the scorers for Madrid, in addition to a draw from Fermín López. Mbappe had two goals disallowed and missed from the penalty spot, while VAR also denied Bellingham a goal on an afternoon that could have been much worse for defending champions Barcelona.
The visitors’ misery was compounded by midfielder Pedri’s late sending off after receiving a second yellow card for a tackle that led to ugly scenes on the touchline.
The only blemish on a good performance by the hosts was Vinicius Jr’s petulant reaction to being substituted in the second half, with the winger making his displeasure clear and running down the tunnel before returning to sit on the bench.
Departure for Yamal
The match came to life within two minutes and Barcelona were lucky not to find themselves in serious trouble early on.
Referee Cesar Soto Grado initially ruled that Barca winger Lamine Yamal had tripped Vinicius Jr inside the area and pointed to the spot. VAR Iglesias Villanueva intervened and requested that the referee re-watch the incident on the pitch monitor. When he did, he overturned his decision and Vinicius was deemed to have kicked Yamal in the back of the foot.
The visitors took advantage of their luck again after 12 minutes. López gave up possession after a bad ball from Frenkie de Jong and Mbappé took advantage and fired a shot past Wojciech Szczesny. Again the Santiago Bernabéu erupted but, once again, the VAR intervened, and the goal was disallowed for offside against the French captain.
It looked like the dam had to break and it finally did nine minutes later.
Bellingham was the architect with a good turn and pass to Mbappé and the forward made no mistake with a precise finish under Szczesny.
The goal will raise more questions about Barca’s top line, with coach Hansi Flick unable to make adjustments from the touchline due to his one-match suspension after being sent off against Girona last weekend.
His team was struggling to string passes together and both Federico Valverde and Bellingham fired long-range shots wide. Szczesny also had to duck well to deflect Mbappé’s shot for a corner.
Barça finally broke the chains, but Ferran Torres, starting up front in the absence of the injured Robert Lewandowski, could only fire a weak shot straight at Thibaut Courtois.
López drags Barça to the level
López was more clinical after 38 minutes as Barca finally made some strides in attack.
Marcus Rashford was involved with a cross from outside and Lopez, who scored a hat-trick in the midweek victory over Olympiacos in the Champions League, was on hand to pass the ball past Courtois.
Momentum suddenly came in the visitors’ favor and Madrid had to move the ball away from their goal line after López deflected the ball into goal following a Rashford corner.
But Madrid regained control and regained the lead two minutes before the break.
Eder Militao headed in a Vinicius Jr cross and Bellingham was available to score.
Mbappé had another goal disallowed when he was clearly in an offside position while wasting a golden opportunity to make it 3-1 seven minutes into the second half.
Eric García was severely penalized in the area, the ball bounced off his hand but Soto Grado considered it a penalty after consulting the VAR.
Mbappé stepped forward, but his powerful shot was brilliantly saved by Szczesny diving to his right.
Barça fails to find the second tie
López made the wrong choice by shooting instead of trying to pick out Rashford or Torres, while Militao also lost the ball when he found himself free at the other end.
Bellingham had another goal correctly disallowed for offside before Mbappe fired straight at Szczesny after a play by Aurelian Tchouameni.
Mbappé shot wide when he was well placed as Madrid looked for the third to secure the match, while Barça wasted their best chance to equalize with a minute left.
Yamal had a quiet afternoon but showed a flash of genius with a lofted pass for Jules Kounde, but the right-back ruined his control and missed the chance.
Their frustration boiled over when Pedri lunged at Tchouameni in the final minute of stoppage time and was sent off.
