Real Madrid defeated Barcelona in the central match of the 32nd round of the Spanish Football Championship and came close to another success in the domestic arena. Sports – about the sparkling battle of bitter rivals, which became the culmination of the golden race in La Liga.
Spain Football Championship21 April 2024 • starts at 22:00Finished
Real MadridSpain3 : 2
BarcelonaSpain
18' • Vinicius Junior (P)73' • Lucas Vazquez (Vinicius Junior)
90' • Jude Bellingham (Lucas Vazquez)
06' • Andreas Christensen (Rafinha)
69' • Fermin Lopez
See all goals
El Clasico in the Champions League week The main clubs in Spain approached the confrontation at the Santiago Bernabeu with a completely opposite mood.
- As part of the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Real lasted 120 minutes on the road against Manchester City, and in a penalty shootout they defeated and knocked out the current winner of the Champions League from the main club tournament of the Old World. Barcelona, on the contrary, after the victory in Paris fell apart at home and lost to Kylian Mbappe and company with a score of 1:4. Goodbye, European Cups!
- The last three (official) El Clasicos ended in defeat ” Barsy” with a total score of 2:10. The last match turned out to be a defeat: in January, Real Madrid beat the Catalans in the final of the Spanish Super Cup (4:1);
- Madrid is racing at full speed towards the championship. And there is no pressure on the La Liga leader, because the lead over Barça is eight points. But there is so much pressure on the guests: in order to delay the celebration of Real Madrid, the blue garnets only needed a victory.
Lunin let Real down again. Despite their favorite status, the hosts had a very bad first half. They conceded in the sixth minute: Rafinha took a corner, after which Ukrainian goalkeeper Andrei Lunin played uncertainly at the exit, and Andreas Christensen opened the scoring. The goalkeeper alternates between disastrous matches and great ones: a blunder in the first match with Manchester, a performance in a series of penalty kicks against the English in the return match, and now, again, a gross mistake.
Real responded quickly. Lucas Vazquez tripped over Pau Kubarsi's leg in the penalty area, and Vinicius Junior scored from the penalty spot in the 18th minute.
The teams went into the break with an equal score. However, Real Madrid had more than enough problems in defense. Especially with set pieces: after a low cross from a corner, 16-year-old talent Lamin Yamal played with his heel like a fop, and the ball flew straight into the near corner… Lunin pulled, but it seemed that the ball crossed the goal line. And it really crossed, but not completely – referee Cesar Soto Grado resorted to the help of VAR and did not allow Barca to take the lead.
The end of the first half of the match was overshadowed by the serious injury of Frenkie de Jong: the Catalan midfielder was carried to the sub-tribune on a stretcher. And “Santiago Bernabeu” saw off the Dutchman with applause.
BellyGOAL! The second half turned out to be no less bright. Dangerous moments (the only thing worth mentioning is Vinicius’s sprint to meet Marc-Andre ter Stegen) and the multitude of substitutions from the visitors, to which Carlo Ancelotti responded with a double change only in the 70th minute.
And the Italian decided to rotate immediately after Barcelona’s second goal. In the 69th minute, Fermin Lopez Martin was the fastest to finish after Lunin's save – there was no hint of offside. However, Real fought back again! This time it took the Los Blancos only four minutes: Vazquez and Vinicius switched roles – now the Spaniard blocked the cross from the Brazilian. The latter, by the way, could have quickly made the score 3:2, but Barcelona captain Ter Stegen saved the goal after another run by the striker and a tight shot from an acute angle.
What Vinicius could not, Jude Bellingham did in the 91st minute. A stunning attack led to a pass from Vazquez, which Joselu did not interfere with… The ball was at the feet of the Englishman, who struck under the crossbar with no chance for the goalkeeper. The stadium went crazy, and Barça, which for the first time during the match found itself in the role of a winning team, could not save itself.
Barça resigned as champions The Catalans, who became the winners of La Liga in the 2022/23 season, are inferior to the Spanish throne to the people of Madrid. Still, the current Barça is definitely not able to overcome the 11-point gap from such a “Real” in six rounds.
In the next couple of weeks, the “royal club” will put a fine end to the national championship (only one defeat in 32 rounds) and for the 36th time in its history will take gold at the Spanish Championship. Now you can concentrate on the Champions League and the semi-final clash with Bayern.
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