Four days after beating Liverpool in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, Real Madrid on Saturday defeated Barcelona 2-1 in El Clasico to return to the top of the table in La Liga.
“We have to enjoy what we’ve been doing. We got two very good results and it wasn’t easy,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Being in the lead won’t change anything for us. We have to keep working hard.”
Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos scored first-half goals to give Madrid their sixth consecutive win in all competitions.
Photo: AFP
“It was a very important victory for us,” Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez said after the Barcelona match. “It’s always special to win a game in El Clasico, and even more when we are so close together at the top in the fight for the title. You could say today was a final, but there is still a lot left in the league.”
Barcelona got on the board in the second half with a goal by Oscar Mingueza. They nearly equalized with a shot from young substitute Ilaix Moriba that struck the crossbar in the final play of the match.
“We tried until the end, but it wasn’t possible. We almost had it in that final play,” Barcelona’s Sergi Roberto said. “We depended on our own results had we won, but now we need to hope that our rivals stumble. We will keep fighting until the very end.”
This was the first time that Madrid have taken the league lead since the early rounds of the competition — at one stage, they trailed Atletico by 11 points.
The result ended Barcelona’s six-match winning streak in the league. They had won nine consecutive away matches in the competition.
It was an even start at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano in Madrid, but the hosts opened the scoring in the 13th minute with Benzema’s superb flicked shot from close range after a low cross by Lucas Vazquez.
The French striker, who has scored 10 goals in his past nine matches, got in front of Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo and flicked the ball toward the net with his back foot.
The Catalan club complained of a foul by Vazquez on Messi just moments before the opening goal.
Kroos added to the lead in the 28th from a free-kick following a foul on Vinicius Junior, who was coming off an outstanding performance in Madrid’s win over Liverpool. Kroos shot from just outside the penalty area and the ball was deflected by American defender Sergino Dest before going into the net.
Madrid almost added to the lead in the 34th minute when Federico Valverde hit the post after a breakaway led by Vinicius Junior, who also hit the post in the second half. That was after Barcelona pulled one back in the 60th minute, with a shot from inside the penalty area by Mingueza after a low cross by Jordi Alba.
Madrid played the final minutes a man down after Casemiro was sent off with a second yellow card.
One of Messi’s best chances was with a corner kick that curled across the area and hit Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ far post in first-half stoppage time. Messi’s free-kick in second-half stoppage time was easily stopped by Courtois.
The visitors complained about being denied a penalty in the final minutes, with Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman saying that it was “a clear penalty.”
“I don’t know why there is VAR [video-assisted referee] in Spain,” he said.
Madrid got the win despite a depleted defense — with the absence of central defenders Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos. Barcelona was without the injured Gerard Pique.
Right back Vazquez, who has been key for Madrid in recent games, had to be replaced due to an injury before halftime.
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