La Liga: Real Madrid go top after 3-1 win over Barcelona in ‘El Clasico’ | Football News


MADRID: Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo were all on target as a dominating Real Madrid beat former rivals Barcelona 3-1 at home in ‘The classic‘ on Sunday to take the lead in La Liga.
The loss was another blow for Barca and manager Xavi Hernandez after they were left on the brink of Champions League elimination following a draw with Inter Milan in midweek.
Real are now top of the standings with 25 points, three ahead of Barça.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti said on the eve of the game he was not going to reinvent the wheel as he sought to avoid a repeat of the result between the sides in March, when he put midfielder Luka Modric in front to be hammered 4-0 by the Catalans.
There were no surprises in his line-up as he left it to his Barca counterpart Xavi to be inventive.
He left midfielder Gavi on the bench and, aware of the danger Vinicius Jr posed in-form from the left wing, decided to launch Sergi Roberto at right-back and rush defender Jules Kounde, who recently treated a hamstring injury, to cover for the Brazilian.
The strategy did not pay off for the visitors, with Vinicius a dominant force on that flank, often breaking free by running down the left channel.
Barca had no response to Vinicius’ relentless pace and Toni Kroos’ precise passing for Real and the two were the architects of several chances, including the first two goals.
The pair combined with some fine one-touch passing in the build-up to Benzema’s opener, with the French striker finishing in the empty goal on the rebound, after goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen denied Vinicius from close range at the 12th minute.
Ten minutes before the break, Vinicius took advantage of an error by defender Eric Garcia to run towards the box and create space for Valverde who, unmarked on the edge of the box, slipped a shot past the keeper.
Apart from two early strikes from Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha, Real were barely threatened by their lifeless opponents until the dying minutes, when substitute Ferran Torres reduced the deficit with a close-range strike into an empty center net. bottom by Robert Lewandowski.
However, substitute Rodrygo got the points from the penalty spot in injury time, after being tripped inside the box by Garcia.
The referee didn’t give the foul at first, but was alerted by VAR and, after checking the video, gave Real the penalty.
“We are delighted not only with the victory, but also with the way we played. It was an incredible afternoon in a packed stadium with our fans creating a fantastic atmosphere,” Modric told DAZN.
“We knew there was going to come a point in the game where we were going to have to suffer because they handle the ball well and that’s when we have to defend hard and suffer and we did that.
“Then we were very strong in attack and we’re very happy with the game. We had a great game today.”



malek

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