Real Madrid, led by Alonso, breaks Barcelona/Flick’s dominance and strengthens its position at the top of the Spanish League.

Lebanon Today

In an exciting football evening, Real Madrid finally managed to break its series of consecutive defeats in El Clasico matches against Barcelona, achieving a well-deserved victory with a score of (2-1) in the match that brought the two teams together on the أرضية “Santiago Bernabéu” stadium as part of the tenth round of La Liga.

Real Madrid had not been able to achieve victory over Barcelona since the German, Hans Flick, took over the latter’s leadership at the beginning of last season, but the battalion of coach Xabi Alonso, who has been leading Real Madrid since the beginning of the current season, finally succeeded in breaking this complex.

The two goals for Real Madrid were scored by: Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham in the 22nd and 43rd minutes, knowing that Mbappé missed a penalty kick in the 52nd minute.

In return, Fermín López scored Barcelona’s only goal in the 38th minute of the match, which saw his teammate Pedri sent off in the 90+10 minute.

With this victory, Real Madrid raised its score to 27 points at the top of the La Liga standings, while Barcelona’s score froze at 22 points in second place, 5 points behind.

The match started at a fast pace, and the first minute witnessed a dangerous opportunity through a powerful shot from Marcus Rashford, but the Brazilian defender Éder Militão intervened at the last moment and turned the ball into a corner kick, preventing an early goal for Barcelona.

In the third minute, the referee awarded a penalty kick to Real Madrid after a collision between Lamine Yamal and Vinícius Júnior inside the area, before returning to the video technology and deciding to cancel the decision in the fifth minute, considering that the Barcelona player played the ball first.

In the following minutes, Barcelona continued trying to impose its control on the ball, and this was evident in the possession, before Real Madrid powerfully announced itself through a first goal scored by Kylian Mbappé in the 11th minute, but the video technology intervened again and canceled the goal due to offside.

Real Madrid did not back down, and succeeded in the 22nd minute in scoring the lead goal through Kylian Mbappé, who exploited a precise pass from Jude Bellingham, to be alone with the goal and put the ball in the net of the Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, announcing the home side’s lead.

Opportunities continued after the goal, as Real Madrid came close to adding the second through Valverde and Bellingham, then Huijsen with a dangerous header that was saved by the Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny in the 29th minute.

In return, Ferran Torres wasted an opportunity to equalize the result in the 33rd minute with a weak shot that was controlled by Thibaut Courtois, the Merengue goalkeeper.

In the 38th minute, Barcelona was able to come back in the result through Fermín López, who benefited from a distinguished pass from Marcus Rashford inside the penalty area, to put the ball in the net, realizing the equalizer for the Catalan team after exploiting a mistake by the Turkish Arda Güler, the Real player.

But Real Madrid quickly returned to the lead, after Jude Bellingham scored the second goal in the 43rd minute, after a run on the left side through Vinícius Júnior and sent a cross that reached the Brazilian Militão, who prepared the ball with his head for the Englishman who put it easily in the net, ending the first half with the Royal team leading (2-1).

With the beginning of the second half, Barcelona tried to come back quickly through Fermín López, who threatened Real Madrid’s goal in the 46th minute with a dangerous shot from a Marcus Rashford pass, but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was present.

In the 48th minute, the arbitration controversy returned again, after Real Madrid players demanded a penalty kick be awarded for a handball on Eric García inside the area during a joint attempt with Jude Bellingham.

The referee returned to the video technology in the 49th minute before officially announcing a penalty kick for Real in the 50th minute.

Kylian Mbappé took the kick in the 52nd minute, but goalkeeper Szczęsny excelled and saved the ball brilliantly, depriving Real Madrid of widening the gap and keeping Barcelona in the atmosphere of the match.

The Catalan response came quickly through Fermín López again a minute later with a dangerous counterattack that was saved by Courtois, before his attempts continued in the 57th minute with a cross that he failed to convert into a goal.

Despite Barcelona’s rush, Real Madrid almost punished him if it were not for Frenkie de Jong’s intervention in the 58th minute, who saved a dangerous situation inside the area, in a scene that came after a defensive error by Alejandro Baldé.

In the 62nd minute, Aurélien Tchouaméni intervened strongly to stop Eric García’s attempt, before the match witnessed a poignant moment in the 68th minute with the cancellation of a third goal for Real Madrid, scored by Jude Bellingham, due to offside by Brahim Díaz at the beginning of the attack.

In return, Pau Cubarsí, the Barça defender, wasted an opportunity to equalize the result with a header in the 70th minute.

Then, the 72nd minute witnessed a clear moment of tension after Xabi Alonso, the coach of Real Madrid, decided to withdraw Vinícius Júnior and bring in Rodrygo Goes instead, and Vinícius left angrily directly to the dressing room upon his substitution, in a scene that stole the spotlight and showed clear tension in the ranks of Real Madrid.

Mbappé almost snatched the third goal, with a ground-to-ground missile shot that passed next to the left post in the 88th minute.

Koundé wasted Barcelona’s most dangerous opportunity in the second half to achieve the equalizer, in the 89th minute, where he received a cross from Yamal and shot, but the ball reached Courtois’s arms.

Pedri intervened on Tchouaméni’s foot while trying to catch up with the ball, in added time, receiving a second yellow card and then being sent off, igniting the atmosphere of El Clasico with altercations between players and staff of the two teams outside the lines, after which the referee blew his whistle, announcing the Royal’s victory.