I could not have imagined a greater spectacle for my first game at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, as the teams placed 1st and 2nd in La Liga went head-to-head in an enthralling encounter. Real Madrid emerged from an El Clásico contest victorious for the first time in 18 months, extending their lead at the top of the table to five points over their Catalan rivals, with goals from Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham either side of a Fermín López strike enough to secure a 2-1 win.
The electric atmosphere within the stadium before kick-off was unlike anything I had ever previously witnessed, packed full of nearly 80,000 fans, each of whom were determined to roar their respective team on towards victory. Real Madrid drew confidence from the raucous support of the home crowd in the early stages, and were awarded a penalty within the opening five minutes by referee Cesar Grado after Vinicus Jr was brought down by Lamine Yamal inside the area. However, in communication with VAR, Grado overturned his original decision, judging the Real Madrid winger to have been responsible for instigating the contact.
VAR once again came to Barcelona’s rescue less than ten minutes later, when Mbappé ruthlessly punished sloppiness among the Barca defence, firing a pinpoint volley past Wojciech Szczęsny. However, on second viewing, the French forward was adjudged to have been marginally offside when he received the ball from an Arda Güler flick.
Mbappé was not to be denied for long, however, as he was played through on the Barcelona goal in the 22nd minute after smart play by Bellingham, slipping a composed finish past Szczęsny into the bottom corner to open the scoring and spark scenes of ecstasy among the home fans.
Mbappé’s goal appeared to provide the hosts with additional confidence, who forced Szczęsny into a string of saves, from Bellingham, Dean Huijsen and Vinicius. However, against the run of play, Barcelona hauled themselves level on 38 minutes after a square ball by Marcus Rashford found López in the middle of the Madrid box – the Spaniard making no mistake with a finish past Thibaut Courtois.
But Barca’s joy was short-lived and they found themselves once again trailing less than five minutes later after Éder Militão header across the visitors’ box found an unmarked Bellingham to tap into a virtually empty net. Things could have got worse for Barcelona before the interval, although Mbappé was clearly offside when finishing from close range.
A similar pattern was evident at the start of the second half, with the visitors dominating possession but Madrid displaying far greater attacking intent. The hosts’ pressure was rewarded in the 50th minute, VAR this time coming to their aid and awarding them a penalty for an Eric García handball. However, Szczęsny once again proved to be Barca’s saviour, diving spectacularly towards his right-hand side to tip away Mbappé’s spot kick.
While Szczęsny’s heroics appeared to lift the spirits of the Catalan giants, they consistently struggled to test Courtois despite extended spells of possession on the edge of Madrid’s box. In fact, cheered on by a passionate and defiant home crowd, Madrid largely looked the more dangerous, with Bellingham’s disallowed effort marking Madrid’s third offside goal of the afternoon, while Mbappé and Rodrygo both squandered chances to put the game to bed on the counter-attack.
Indeed, the away side’s afternoon was summed up in the final minute, when Pedri was shown a second yellow card for a desperate lunge on Aurélien Tchouaméni after the Spanish midfielder had lost control of the ball, sparking a mass touchline brawl which saw substitute Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin also red carded, and concluding a miserable day for Hansi Flick’s men.
90 minutes worth of goals, VAR controversy, red cards and all in the surroundings of the spectacular Santiago Bernabéu, this game served as an epic reminder (if we needed it!) of why El Clásico is the biggest game in global football.
Referee: César Soto Grado; Video Assistant Referee: Javier Iglesias Villanueva; Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Álvarez Fernández; Assistant Referee 2: Rubén Becerril Gómez; Fourth Official: Guillermo Conejero Sánchez; Assistant VAR Official: Mario Melero López
Madrid lineup: Courtois; Carreras, Huijsen, Militão, Valverde (subbed for Carvajal, 72’); Tchouaméni; Vinicius Junior (subbed for Rodrygo, 72’), Güler (subbed for Díaz, 66’), Camavinga, Bellingham (subbed for G. García, 90’); Mbappé (swapped with Ceballos, 91’)
Barcelona lineup: Szczęsny; Balde (subbed for Martín, 97’), E. García (subbed for , 74’), Cubarsí (subbed for Bardghji, 83’), Koundé; Pedri, de Jong; Rashford, López, Yamal; Torres (subbed for Casadó, 74’)