El Clasico, Real beat Barcelona in La Liga: Records broken
Real Madrid overcame arch-rivals Barcelona in the El Clasico to go top of La Liga 2020-21 standings. With this 2-1 win, Real have completed the league double over Barca this season. Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos were the scorers for Real as Oscar Mingueza pulled one goal back. Real have now gone atop the league standings for the time being over Atletico Madrid.
Benzema scored the opening goal with a sublime near-post flick. Los Blancos doubled their lead before half-time through Toni Kroos' deflected free-kick. Oscar Mingueza pulled one back for Barca before Madrid's Casemiro was handed a late red card. Barca mid-fielder Ilaix Moriba saw his well-struck shot come back off the crossbar in stoppage time as the hosts held on.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane stated that his side deserved this win and they did their job today. "I feel very happy. We started the game very well. It was a very complicated match overall, but it was a deserved victory," he said. "I think we could have scored a third goal, but it's an important win. We did our job today."
Benzema netted his ninth goal in his past seven La Liga games. The Frenchman raced to 25 goals in all competitions for Real this season. This is the third successive season in which he has netted 25 or more goals. Benzema also scored his 19th La Liga goal this season. The senior striker now has 188 La Liga goals and 274 overall for Real.
Lionel Messi has now gone goalless in seven El Clasico games across competitions. As per Opta, Casemiro was sent off for the second time for Real Madrid after 478 fouls in all competitions. Oscar Mingueza has scored his first goal in El Clasico. He is the second Barca defender to score versus Real after Marc Bartra in April 2014.
📌 Zidane becomes the first @realmadriden manager to win 3 #ElClasico matches in a row since 1979.#LaLigaHistory pic.twitter.com/LOaZWHmWcy
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) April 10, 2021
