Defending Spanish and European champions Real Madrid had the last laugh in the first El Clasico of the season. Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde, and Rodrygo got on the scoresheet as Los Blancos handed Barcelona a 3-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu to reclaim their top spot in the league.
Real Madrid took an early 2-0 lead in the contest through Benzema and Valverde and even though Barca fought back well with Ferran Torres pulling one back, a late penalty converted by Rodrygo in additional time all but sealed the win for the hosts.
Los Blancos took the lead in the 12th minute when Toni Kroos led a swift counter-attack. Despite Sergio Busquets’ attempts to bring him down, the German put Vinicius Jr in behind the Barcelona defence with a fantastic pass. The Brazilian winger had his shot saved by Marc Andre ter Stegen, but the rebound was swiftly converted by Benzema, who ended his drought of five matches without a goal.
Robert Lewandowski had a great chance to equalise on the other end. However, he couldn’t get the proper contact to Raphinha’s low-driven cross at the far post and instead turned the ball over the bar.
Real Madrid then doubled their lead when Barcelona’s defence were caught cold once again. Ferland Mendy squared the ball to Fede Valverde hovering at the edge of the box.
The Uruguayan trapped the ball with his first touch and then unleashed a rocket of a shot that flew into the net and sent the stadium into a frenzy.
Benzema thought he had grabbed a third goal early in the second half, but it was ruled out for offside. Barcelona exercised greater control over proceedings in the second half and slowly started to claw their way back into the game, especially after the first set of changes.
Their persistence got rewarded seven minutes before the end of time when top-notch work from substitute Ansu Fati saw Ferran Torres converting a tap-in to pull one back for the hosts.
Searching for the desperate equaliser proved futile as Eric Garcia was adjudged to have fouled Rodrygo inside the box at the 90th-minute mark. VAR decided to award the hosts a penalty which was converted by the Brazilian to secure a massive result.
Real Madrid are now on top of the table with 25 points, while Barcelona continue in second place with 22.
