Real Madrid won their 99th El Clasico, defeating arch rivals Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou. David Alaba scored the first goal of the game in remarkable fashion, from well outside the box. The Austrian was deployed as centre-back with the return of Ferland Mendy as the first choice left-back.
The defender charged forward on the break and was not picked up by any Barcelona defenders, and he beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen from well outside the box. A quick VAR check confirmed the goal since the player was well onside.
Barcelona had the chance to equalise at the very least, with a brilliant opportunity falling at the feet of Sergino Dest. However, the player fired the ball over the net from a great position in front of goal without even testing the goalkeeper.
Fede Valverde was brought on as a substitute and there was an injury scare, with the Uruguayan hurting the back of his head. The stretcher car was brought on to potentially wheel him off the field, but Valverde managed to carry on for a few minutes before being replaced by Dani Carvajal.
Barcelona showed some energy going forward with Ansu Fati and Memphis Depay being the main creators in attack. However, despite the individual brilliance of both these players, they were unable to create enough.
Lucas Vasquez doubled Madrid’s lead in stoppage time, racing in to tap in the rebound, after ter Stegen got his hands to a cross.
Shortly after, Sergio Aguero pulled one back for Barcelona, scoring his first goal in the iconic fixture. However, it was too little too late for Barcelona as Real Madrid picked up all three points at Camp Nou.
