The biggest spectacle in the sporting world went Barcelona’s way as they demolished arch-rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu, thus bringing an end to an astonishing run of 42 unbeaten league games for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, just a win or draw away from leveling La Liga’s longest run, set by the Catalans between 2017 and 2018.
The starting minutes of the game saw the home side generate a host of great scoring opportunities, only for their star-studded attack to misfire. Summer signing Kylian Mbappe, in particular, had the worst possible first Clasico as he was caught offside a staggering 8 times in the first half itself by Barca’s well-organized defensive line, who could not put a foot wrong on the night and kept Madrid an arm’s length from the goal.
For Barcelona, all their attackers got their names on the scoreline as striker Lewandowski struck twice in three minutes, taking his tally to 14 goals in just 12 league matches. Barca’s 17-year-old starlet Yamal stunned the Bernabéu with a thunderous right-footed strike with the scoreline reading 3-0. Brazilian forward Raphinha, riding a hot wave of form following his hattrick against Bayern Munich, put the final nail in the coffin that was the Bernabéu through a sublime chip over second-choice keeper Andriy Lunin.
Barca, meanwhile, went 6 points clear at the top, scoring 37 goals in 11 league games so far, while Madrid is looking to bounce back against AC Milan in the UCL.