Real Madrid down Barcelona: Decoding El Clasico by the numbers
What's the story
Real Madrid defeated FC Barcelona 2-1 in a thrilling La Liga clash at the Santiago Bernabeu. Jude Bellingham played a crucial role, scoring and assisting for the first time this season. Kylian Mbappe scored the opener with Fermin Lopez equalizing for the visitors. Bellingham's winner sealed all three points for Los Blancos. Here we present the El Clasico in stats.
Match highlights
Bellingham scores and assists against Barca
Mbappe opened the scoring for Los Blancos with a goal from a defense-splitting through ball by Bellingham in the 22nd minute. Thereafter, Marcus Rashford assisted Lopez, who managed the equalizing goal. Bellingham then scored his fourth goal in five El Clasico appearances, restoring Madrid's lead just before half-time. Despite Pedri's red card, Real Madrid held on to their lead and extended their La Liga title defense with a dominant win over their arch-rivals.
Controversial decisions
Mbappe's volley ruled out for offside
Real Madrid appealed for a penalty in the opening two minutes when Vinicius Jr went down inside the box. However, a VAR review determined that the winger had kicked Lamine Yamal's leg before going down. Ten minutes later, Mbappe's stunning 25-yard volley was ruled out for offside after another VAR review. Despite these setbacks, Bellingham and Mbappe continued to threaten Barcelona's defense throughout the match.
Second half drama
Mbappe's penalty saved by Szczesny
The second half saw more drama as VAR awarded a controversial penalty to Real Madrid when Eric Garcia's handball occurred under contentious circumstances. However, Wojciech Szczesny saved Mbappe's spot-kick in the 52nd minute. Despite another goal from Bellingham being ruled out for offside, Real Madrid held on to their lead and extended their La Liga title defense with a dominant win over their arch-rivals.
Duo
Mbappe races to 60 Real Madrid goals; Bellingham owns 40
Mbappe has raced to 16 goals for Real Madrid this season from 13 appearances in all competitions. 11 of his goals this season have come from 10 games in La Liga. Overall, the Frenchman has amassed 60 goals for Los Blancos in 72 appearances. Playing his 108th match for Los Blancos, Bellingham has raced to 40 goals. Notably, this was his 2nd goal of the season in all competitions. Apart from his 40 goals, the player also owns 28 assists for the club.
Information
Rashford clocks his 5th La Liga assist of the season
Rashford has made a bright start for Barca this season. The Manchester United player, who is on loan, registered his 5th assist in La Liga this season from 10 appearances (G1). He also owns 4 goals and an assist from three Champions League appearances.
Details
Match stats and points table
Hosts Real clocked 21 attempts with 9 shots on target. Barca managed six shots on target from 13 attempts. Hansi Flick's side had more ball possession (52%) and a pass accuracy of 91%. Real earned 12 corners to that of Barca's 4. In terms of the points table, Real claimed their 9th win of the season from 10 appearances. They own 27 points and are placed atop. Barca are 2nd and have collected 22 points. They are 5 points behind Real.
Information
80-76 win-loss record for Real in El Clasico (La Liga)
Across 191 La Liga matches, Real Madrid own an 80-76 record over Barcelona in El Clasico. 35 matches have been drawm. Overall, the two sides have met 262 times in all competitions. Real hold a 106-104 win-loss record. A total of 52 games have been drawn.
Opta stats
Mbappe attains these feats
Mbappe is the third player to score in four consecutive El Clasico games across all competitions in the 21st century (six goals). This is after Ronaldinho Gaucho between 2004 and 2006 (four matches, five goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2012 (six matches, seven goals). Former Paris Saint-Germain ace Mbappe scored his 12th goal against Barca from 9 appearances in all competitions.
Bellingham
Bellingham makes El Clasico history and enjoys a cracking game
As per Opta, aged 22 years and 119 days, Bellingham is now the youngest Real Madrid player to both score and assist in a game against Barcelona across all competitions in the 21st century. He surpassed the record set by Vinícius Junior in Copa del Rey in April 2023 (22y, 267d). As per Squawka, Bellingham won 7 duels and had 5 touches in the opposition box. The Englishman won 3 tackles and clocked 3 shots on target. He created one chance in addition to scoring one (1 assist).