Robert Lewandowski scored twice within two minutes as Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 on Saturday, handing the Spanish champions their first La Liga loss in over a year.
Young winger Lamine Yamal and Raphinha added to the scoreline, while Madrid’s star Kylian Mbappe had two goals disallowed for offside in a frustrating first Clasico for him. Real Madrid now trails league leaders Barcelona by six points. Mbappe struggled to break through Barcelona’s tight defensive line, which frustrated the Santiago Bernabeu crowd even more as the visitors scored four second-half goals. Barcelona’s victory ended Madrid’s 42-game unbeaten streak in La Liga, just one game shy of Barcelona’s all-time record.
“It’s a hard moment, a tough moment when you lose a game, (especially after) so many unbeaten,” admitted Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.
His counterpart Hansi Flick has whipped Barcelona into shape in just a matter of months and in ending a run of four Clasico defeats, his young side made a statement victory to show how far they have come.
“The big objectives are (fought) against the best in the world and we’ve shown that we’ve got the ability to beat anyone, that we’ve got the mentality and that we’ve changed,” said Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena.
Ancelotti’s game-plan was clear — defend in numbers and try to spring Mbappe or Vinicius Junior with a long ball into the space behind Barcelona’s defence.
It led to an intense but repetitive first half, with Barcelona’s defence catching Madrid offside on eight occasions.
Mbappe hit the side-netting and lobbed over but was offside on both occasions, while Jude Bellingham forced a superb save from Pena, but it would also have been disallowed for offside.
