Real Madrid Breaks Barcelona’s Streak and Pulls Away at the Top of La Liga

Real Madrid snapped Barcelona’s winning streak against them in El Clásico with a 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu, moving five points clear at the top of La Liga after 10 rounds of the season.

Madrid fully deserved the win, as they were the better side throughout the match, ending Barcelona’s run of dominance for the first time since April 2024. They raised their tally to 27 points at the summit after a fifth straight win in all competitions, while Barça remained second on 22 points, having now lost three of their last five matches.

The Merengues also extended their home winning streak to 11 across all competitions – their longest such run in a decade. They also claimed their 106th victory in 262 Clásico clashes, compared to 104 for Barcelona, while 52 ended in draws.

Key Match Events

The hosts applied pressure right from the start and looked capable of scoring within minutes. However, VAR twice denied them their breakthrough – first when the referee rescinded a penalty he had awarded to Vinícius Júnior, ruling instead that he had committed the foul (3’), and then when Kylian Mbappé’s goal was disallowed for offside (12’).

But ten minutes later, the situation flipped when Mbappé broke clear of the defense, beating the offside trap after a brilliant through ball from Jude Bellingham. The Frenchman went one-on-one with Polish keeper Wojciech Szczęsny and slotted calmly past him to the right (22’).

Szczęsny then denied Madrid three more times – a shot from Mbappé (29’), an effort by defender Dean Huijsen (30’), another from Vinícius (34’), and finally a powerful strike by Bellingham (37’).

But a costly error from Turkish youngster Arda Güler under pressure near his own penalty area gifted possession to Marcus Rashford, who squared for Fermín López to rifle home past Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois (38’).

That equalizer lifted Barcelona, who nearly struck again before the break but saw Huijsen clear a dangerous ball off the line (42’).

Bellingham quickly restored Madrid’s lead, capitalizing on a headed pass from Éder Militão after a Vinícius cross, finishing coolly (43’).

Meanwhile, Barça starlet Lamine Yamal struggled to make an impact, registering only two shots and creating just one chance. Vinícius, on the other hand, was relentless down his flank.

The second half began in similar fashion, Madrid on the front foot again. This time VAR worked in their favor, awarding a penalty. Mbappé stepped up but saw his effort brilliantly saved by Szczęsny (52’).

Fermín López squandered an opportunity to equalize on the counter, opting to shoot from distance rather than pass, with Courtois making a routine save (53’).

In the 72nd minute, coach Xabi Alonso substituted Vinícius for fellow Brazilian Rodrygo. Vinícius stormed straight off to the dressing room in anger before later returning to sit on the bench.

The tempo dropped in the closing stages despite more substitutions, with few real chances. Rodrygo tested Szczęsny twice deep into stoppage time (90+4’ and 90+8’), before Barcelona’s Pedri was sent off for a second yellow after fouling Aurélien Tchouaméni (90+9’).

Elsewhere in La Liga on Sunday, Mallorca drew 1-1 with visiting Levante, Celta Vigo edged Osasuna away 3-2, and Rayo Vallecano beat Alavés 1-0.