Kylian Mbappe netted a late winner to help Real Madrid secure a 2-1 victory over rivals Barcelona in a high-intensity El Clasico clash at Camp Nou, marking a major win for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Real Madrid Triumphs in El Clasico
A late strike from Kylian Mbappe helped Real Madrid edge past arch-rivals Barcelona 2-1 in their ‘El Clasico’ clash at the Camp Nou on Sunday. This continues a poor week for Hansi Flick’s side, who ended their 11-game unbeaten run against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the UEFA Champions League. And now, they succumbed to Real Madrid at home for the first time in three years, as per Sky Sports.
Match Highlights and Key Moments
First Half Action
The first half witnessed plenty of moments, with Arda Guler stepping in off the right flank, forcing the goalie Joan Garcia into a save moments after Anthony Gordon tested Andriy Lunin. In the 24th minute, Raphinha whacked one over the bar from 16 yards and linked up with Gordon, but his low effort went wide. In the 33rd minute, it was Real Madrid’s turn to give Barca some nerves, with a scissors-kick from Mbappe going over the bar. Real Madrid got the lead in the 41st minute, with Gerard Martin whacking the ball against him from a cross by Yan Diomande into the box.
Second Half Drama
In the 61st minute, Raphinha levelled the score for Barcelona. The Brazilian received a reverse pass from Pedri and his snapshot beat Lunin, who managed to get his hand on the ball but could not keep the ball out of the net. Just five minutes later, Barcelona was denied a lead, as Martin’s powerful header from a corner was saved by Lunin. Barcelona had another chance coming, with Lamine Yamal getting past a couple of challengers and clipping a shot at the goal, but the ball bounced just wide.
In the 87th minute, after some beautiful play from Jude Bellingham and a cutback from Eduardo Camavinga, Mbappe netted the winning goal, getting his boss Jose Mourinho to bring out his ‘slide’ celebration. With this, he also reached his 100 goals with Real Madrid, with 67 of them coming in La Liga, 25 in the UEFA Champions League, four in Copa Del Rey, two in the FIFA Club World Cup and one each in the UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. So far this season, Mbappe has scored 14 times for Real Madrid.
Post-Match Reactions
Speaking after the match, Mourinho said, as quoted by the club’s official website, “It was a great match, high-level, which surely the world of football lovers stopped to watch and were not disappointed, with two teams playing to win. In our case, it is more appropriate for me to talk about my players than the others. The boys played an extraordinary game, very organised, very focused, and with a lot of courage to play out from the back against an opponent that presses a lot. We had good chances to make it 0-2 at the end of the first half.”
“At the start of the second half, we had a situation with Jude and Kylian, in a two-against-one. Obviously, Barcelona had a strong reaction in the second half, but we always maintained calm and organisation. At 1-1, we never lost our composure. For me, this is a great victory for the boys against a great opponent, with a referee who I think had a very good game, and a VAR that was asleep in the 60th minute with a decision that, surely, could have had a big influence on the match, which was a clear red card for Joao (Cancelo) against Diomande. Great match, great victory, and the boys deserve it,” he signed off.
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