Real Madrid took their lead at the top of the La Liga table to five points with their 2-1 in over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeau on Sunday to put a halt to the string of El Clasico defeats they were
dealt by fierce rivals Barcelona.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring for the hosts before Fermin Lopez restored parity. Jude Bellingham netted minutes later to reestablish a lead which Madrid held on to close out the game.
Mbappe also had the opportunity to extend Madrid’s lead with a spot kick in the second half of the game, but the French World Cup winner failed to make the most of the penalty as Barcelona breathed a sigh of relief.
However, it did not prove costly as Real Madrid held on to the advantage to close out the game as Pedri was given the marching orders in the tenth minute of second half stoppage time with a second yellow.
Vinicius was visibly frustrated when he was withdrawn fo Rodrygo in the after seventy-two minutes of play as the Brazilian went straight to the locker room before rejoining his teammates on the bench only a few minutes later.
Head coach Xabi Alonso refused to read too much into it and opted to focus on the positive result for the Madrid giants after a string of four straight defeats to the Blaugrana last season across all competition.
“Let me focus on beautiful things, good things. We did great and Vini was a big part of it, he did very well,” the former Real Madrid midfielder said.
“We will talk about his reaction, for sure we will… we will do it in private. Now I want to focus on good things,” he added.
Real Madrid took their tally to 27 points in the Spanish top-flight, with Barcelona behind at 22 at the end of ten matches in the season.
