The clock in Santiago Bernabéu showed 98min 40sec when Pedri picked up the ball on the edge of his area and went on the final run of an exhausting afternoon. Here perhaps was one last chance to get something, the Barcelona midfielder somehow hauling himself up the pitch; instead, as he reached the other area, a tired, loose touch, a desperate lunge to get it back, saw him take out Aurélien Tchouaméni – the world upside down – and get sent off. And so the clásico was over, bar the shouting and the pushing.
There was plenty of that, players squaring then and again when the whistle at last went a few seconds later, Thibaut Courtois and Lamine Yamal, Vinícius Júnior and Raphinha, who wasn’t even playing, confronting each other. But it was Madrid who celebrated. They had gone at it for over an hour then just about controlled it. The fixture that never lets you down, the game with only one 0-0 draw in more than 50 meetings, was 105 minutes long, delivered 38 shots, three goals scored, three more disallowed, a penalty given and taken away again and another saved.
It also in the end delivered a new winner, Madrid beating Barcelona five clasics later. First-half goals goals from Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham, Fermín López’s strike for Barcelona not enough for a comeback, the roar at the end just the latest in a deafening collective of them going back to the very beginning.
When Madrid scored the first of the day’s three goals, it was the third time this stadium had erupted; the difference now, 20 minutes into a wild, intense and noisy first half, was that the celebrations were not cut short by the video assistant referee. They had been playing just a minute and 57 seconds when César Soto Grado pointed to the spot only to be called to the screen where eventually he saw that it had in fact been Vinícius Júnior, running into the area and swiping at a shot, who had made contact with Lamine Yamal, not the other way round.
Less than 10 minutes after that, one loose touch had been enough for Arda Guler to reach in and nudge the ball to Mbappé, who watched the ball bounce up in front of him and sent it flying beyond Szczesny and into the net. On the touchline, Xabi Alonso leaped into the arms of Dani Carvajal. Again, though, the replay rescued Barcelona, Mbappé offside. The graphic showed just how tight it had been but other opportunities followed; this was open, frantic, the best chances coming when Madrid were able to run, which they did often.
Barcelona were unable to exercise much control and didn’t look at all comfortable when they were pushed back, which happened often. Nor did they look that secure stepping up, the space behind them opening: the timing of that line is not what it once was, nor is the pressure applied on the passer.
When the breakthrough came, when the line was breached, it was Bellingham who did it. Turning superbly away from Pedri, he slotted the ball through the Barcelona defence. Mbappé, who this time set off behind Pau Cubarsí, dashed through and scored. A storm had started and Barcelona were struggling to find a place to shelter: they couldn’t keep the ball or slow the game.
They couldn’t even really find an outlet, sending Lamine Yamal into space to create something or allow them to breathe. The 18-year-old, whistled throughout, had almost no presence at all. With the teenager watched closely, when Barcelona were released, it tended to be on the other side or straight through the middle.
From the edge of the area, Bellingham’s shot was deflected wide. Fede Valverde struck over from 25 yards. Mbappé was stopped by Szczesny. Tchouaméni’s lovely clipped ball found Álvaro Carreras coming in at the far post, the Polish keeper saving again. And Eric García had to slide in to stop Mbappé racing clear once more. All that inside nine minutes. They would be followed by another opportunity for Vinícius Júnior and one for Bellingham, both saved.
And yet, Barcelona suddenly had a great chance, García carrying to the area and providing for Ferran Torres, near the penalty spot, only for the ball to got caught under his feet and the shot was weak, easily saved. Then, almost as soon, they were level. Guler, put under pressure, lost it and Pedri, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Balde and Rashford again set up Fermín to finish, running to salute in the north-east corner. It was Rashford’s seventh assist of the season. Barcelona might even have led too, but Pedri of all people chose poorly as they rushed up the pitch.
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Immediately, it was Madrid’s chance to run through straight off a Barcelona corner, Pedri hanging on to Vinícius Júnior’s shirt, desperate for him not to escape. He wasn’t the only one struggling to keep up with this; that went for the whole stadium. The break did bring reward too: with Éder Militão and Dean Huijsen still up from the free-kick, Madrid took the lead when Vinícius Júnior beat Jules Koundé and played a long, looping cross which seemed to be overhit but was headed back across by Militão. Waiting by the line to score, in that striking role that made such a star of him in his first season in Spain, was Bellingham.
Mbappé scored what might have been the third but first he was offside just before the break – clearly this time – and then, when García handled early in the second half, his penalty was superb saved. This wan’t showing any sign of slowing down, the spaces still wide, and up at the other end Fermín wasted another collective run through the middle when he chose to go it alone and curled his shot straight at Thibaut Courtois.
An hour had gone and at last some of the frenzy had a little too, impossible to maintain the intensity. Bit by bit, Barcelona got the ball. Bit by bit, Lamine Yamal came into the game, one pass with the outside of his foot almost finding Torres. Which didn’t really lead to them creating chances, Alonso guiding his team towards patiently containing this, and didn’t stop Madrid being invited into the space beyond Barcelona.
Brahim Díaz, just on for Guler, set up Bellingham to find the net, but the flag was up again, a third “goal” disallowed. Mbappé had two chances to run, too: the first with 10 minutes to go was eventually stopped by Ronald Araújo, the second saw him pull wide with three minutes left. Still there was more: a glorious ball from Lamine Yamal should have levelled it only for Koundé, alone in the area, to be unable to control on his chest, Rodrygo was twice denied by Szczesny and then Pedri went off on one last run.
