Robert Lewandowski struck twice in two minutes as Barcelona thrashed rivals Real Madrid 4-0 in their LaLiga game at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Teenage winger Lamine Yamal and Raphinha completed the rout, while Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe had two goals ruled out for offside on a frustrating first Clasico appearance for Los Blancos, who now trail league leaders Barcelona by six points.
France captain Mbappe was consistently outwitted by the visitors’ high defensive line to the chagrin of the exasperated Santiago Bernabeu crowd, whose mood darkened as Barcelona hit four second-half goals.
Barcelona snapped Madrid’s 42-match unbeaten streak in LaLiga, one game short of the Catalan giants’ all-time record, adding further shine to their triumph.
“It’s a hard moment, a tough moment when you lose a game, (especially after) so many unbeaten,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said after the game
His counterpart Hansi Flick has whipped Barcelona into shape in just a matter of months and in ending a run of four Clasico defeats, his young side made a statement victory to show how far they have come.
“The big objectives are fought against the best in the world and we’ve shown that we’ve got the ability to beat anyone, that we’ve got the mentality and that we’ve changed,” said Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena.
Ancelotti’s game-plan was clear – defend in numbers and try to spring Mbappe or Vinicius Junior with a long ball into the space behind Barcelona’s defence.
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It led to an intense but repetitive first half, with Barcelona’s defence catching Madrid offside on eight occasions.
Mbappe hit the side-netting and lobbed over but was offside on both occasions, while Jude Bellingham forced a superb save from Pena, but it would also have been disallowed for offside.
At the other end, Yamal sent a soft effort at Andriy Lunin when put through on goal by a superb Lewandowski flick.
Barcelona were not playing with the fluidity they demonstrated in recent weeks, culminating in the impressive 4-1 Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Mbappe thought he had broken the deadlock when he got in behind and produced a fine dinked finish over Pena, but yet again the forward was marginally offside and his celebration was cut short.
Despite the feeling they were constantly menacing Barcelona, Madrid only produced one legal shot in the first half, with Vinicius dragging into the side-netting when he tried to catch Pena out at the near post.
Eager for more control, Flick replaced Fermin Lopez with Frenkie de Jong at half-time and Barcelona soon took the lead and never looked back.
Ancelotti added: “We played a first half with intensity, we could have scored (but) we lacked some accuracy.
“When they scored they hit two goals that took all of our energy away, we took more risks at the back and they found a lot more chances on the counterattack.
“For 60 minutes we competed very well and we have to forget the last 30.”
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