The latest edition of the El clasico ended in a deserving victory for Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeau and it was a landmark game; the 250th edition in all competitions. Los Blancos ran out 3-1 winners with goals from Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and a penalty from the young Brazilian, Rodrygo. The Blaugrana got their only goal after a beautiful build up play orchestrated by Ansu Fati and finished with aplomb by Ferran Torres.
The hosts got their 101st victory against Barcelona's 97 in this game tagged the 'biggest in club football'. It is not a derby, but the pure emotion, passion, following, grace and history behind the fixture trump all others bar none. It has been the dream of almost every footballer and heroes have been born in this games as well as villains.
The Catalan giants tried hard to fashion out chances and get the ball to their latest Number 9, Roberto Lewandowsky, but Eder seemed to be keen on his every move while the battle was won and lost in a midfield marshalled by Valverde, Modric, Kroos and Tchuoameni who were miles ahead of Pedro, Bousquets, and De Jong.
Vinicius was a handful for the Barcelona right back Roberto and it was the winger's delectable run and shot following a measured pass from Kroos deep in midfield which presented a rebound for Benzema (arguably the Balon D'or in waiting if his exploits throughtout 2022 are anything to go by). The Frenchman made no mistake of his shot and Madrid found themselves in an early lead. Valverde who scored four in his Madrid career before the start of this season got his 5th goal of the season already when his sleek shot found the back of the net before halftime. Tells you all you need to know about his growing influence in the team.
When Ferran halved the deficit later, Barcelona looked to have brought the game back to a proper contest, but a few seconds of rashness from Eric Garcia caused a penalty when he fouled Rodrygo in the box following a bursting run from Valverde. After a VAR check, the referee pointed to the spot and the fouled Brazilian slotted home. 3-1.
The gulf in class was very obvious as the men in white seemed to have wrapped this victory even without breaking a sweat. It was a game of craft and graft, guile and bile, tears and fears.
The European Champions sit pretty at the summit of the league table while the fortunes of their arch rivals continue to nosedive following their poor showing in Europe as they are now at the verge of dropping to the Europa League.
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