Sports Desk, Bangladesh Global: Jude Bellingham snatched Real Madrid a dramatic 3-2 Clasico win over champions Barcelona on Sunday to take them 11
points clear at the top of La Liga with six matches remaining.
Los Blancos twice came from behind with Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez netting to level Andreas Christensen and Fermin Lopez strikes, before Bellingham rammed home the winner in stoppage time to virtually guarantee his
team the title.
Barcelona, second, bounced back with a strong performance after their
Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain but their last
stand was demolished by Bellingham.
Madrid showed the same grit to stay in the match as they did midweek against
Manchester City on the way to the final four in Europe, before Bellingham's
knock-out blow left the Santiago Bernabeu crowd delighted.
The England international, Madrid's top scorer with 21 goals across all
competitions, netted twice in Madrid's Clasico win over Barcelona in October
and is shining in his first season in Spain.
"We had a great night with our fans, something we all deserved, we took a
huge step towards La Liga," Vazquez, key in all three Madrid goals, told Real
Madrid TV.
"We've had a very good season, we're on a very good path, now we just have to
polish it off and we'll go for everything."
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made three changes from the side that beat City,
with Eduardo Camavinga moving to left-back to replace Ferland Mendy, while
Luka Modric started in midfield.
Madrid's penalty-saving hero against City, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, made an
early mistake to hand Barcelona the lead.
The Ukrainian strayed from his line to try and deal with a corner but got
nowhere near the ball and Christensen nodded into the empty net.
However Madrid were quickly level through Vinicius, who fired over a fine
chance before levelling from the spot.
The sensational Vazquez escaped Joao Cancelo far too easily and was tripped
in the area by 17-year-old Barca centre-back Pau Cubarsi.
Vinicius rolled home from the spot for his 19th goal of the season across all
competitions.
Barcelona were not deterred and made inroads down their right flank with
Lamine Yamal giving Camavinga a torrid time.
- 'Disgrace' -
The 16-year-old starlet thought he had struck with a clever flick from a
corner but Lunin pushed the ball to safety, with Barcelona arguing it had
already crossed the line.
La Liga does not contract goal-line technology and using VAR the officials
could not confirm the ball had completely entered the goal, so the Catalans
were left frustrated.
"We deserved much more given the way we played but there's not much we can
do," said Xavi.
"(Not having goal-line technology) is a disgrace."
Yamal appealed for a penalty minutes later when Camavinga clipped him in the
area but the referee waved their cries away.
Raphinha and Ilkay Gundogan both sent free-kicks narrowly off-target, with
Barcelona only having converted one since Lionel Messi departed in 2021.
Barcelona were dealt a blow on the stroke of half-time when midfielder
Frenkie de Jong was taken off on a stretcher after hurting his ankle in a
challenge by Fede Valverde.
Xavi also brought Lopez on for Christensen at half-time and it paid dividends
for the coach after a slower start to the second half.
The midfielder was in the right place at the right time to finish after 69
minutes when Lunin could only parry Yamal's low effort back into danger.
However Madrid, seeking a fifth league and Champions League double, swiftly
struck back when Vinicius crossed to the back post and Vazquez arrived to
finish having lost his marker Cancelo.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen made a brilliant save to thwart Vinicius at his near
post as the forward sprinted through on goal with Madrid looking to strike
and virtually wrap up their La Liga title.
Bellingham dealt the killer blow, despite largely being kept quiet by the
Catalans until he appeared to emphatically decide the match in stoppage time
from Vazquez's cross.
"We fight until the end and we never accept we're beaten," Vazquez added.
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