Copyright Yardbarker
Last year, El Clásicos provided some great entertainment to all football fans. They were exciting, tense, and utterly dominated by FC Barcelona. Coming into the Spanish giants’ first meeting of the season, there was a chance that the Catalan streak of domination would come to an end. Did Blaugrana dazzle, or did the power they held over Real Madrid last year fizzle out during the summer break? Barcelona’s Luck The start of long-awaited El Clásico would have been a nightmare for Barcelona, were it not for their immense luck. First, in just the third minute, they were facing a possible penalty after Lamine Yamal supposedly fouled Vinicius Jr. by Wojciech Szczęsny’s net. Thankfully for all Culers, the penalty was called off after a VAR check. Not long after, Real Madrid saw their second attempt at changing the score. Kylian Mbappe performed an impressive long shot that flew past Barcelona’s goalkeeper. With the ball in the net, Santiago Bernabeu began celebrating El Clásico’s opening goal. The joy turned out to be premature as the referee noticed a foul in the earlier part of the action. The score remained 0:0. El Clásico’s Three Goals Eventually, Barcelona’s luck had to run out. Real, aggravated by the two situations called off by the referee, pressed even harder than before. In the 22nd minute, Mbappe, the man who had almost scored once before, shot at his rivals’ net once more. For the second time that day, a ball coming from underneath his feet ended up inside the goal. The difference between the two situations was that in the second one, the shot did change the score. The one thing every Barcelona fan knows is that this team never gives up, especially with an El Clásico win on the line. Despite being less coordinated and less in control than their rivals, they were also a force to be reckoned with. All they needed was one well-timed action and a pass from Marcus Rashford to Fermin Lopez. The hero of Blaugrana’s last Champions League game equalised the score in the 38th minute. This wasn’t the last goal the first half of the game had to offer. Only two minutes before the end of regular time, Jude Bellingham put his team back in the lead after a pass from Éder Militão. Before Barcelona’s players could get back on their feet, Mbappe put the ball in the net once more. This time, the goal was disallowed due to an offside. A Tense Ending All the tension that had built up in the first half carried over into the second. Right after the game resumed, Real stood in front of another chance to make the El Clásico score even more favourable. During yet another attack, Eric Garcia touched the ball with his hand, which led to a penalty being awarded to the host team. Mbappe lined up to take the shot, but Szczęsny, a man having a terrific day on the field, knew just which way to dive. Despite the great chance, the score remained unchanged. The game slowed down after the unrealized penalty. Both teams had some good moments, with Real scoring yet another offside goal, but nothing came from their efforts. The game ended with tensions rising on the field. Pedri, who had previously received a yellow card, got a second one in the 99th minute. This led to a red and his elimination from the rest of the match. The moment sparked a fight by the benches, so the first El Clásico of the 2025/26 season ended in scuffles and screams. End Of My El Clásico Rant The coveted three points went to Real Madrid. Despite Barcelona’s efforts, they were no match for Xabi Alonso’s team. Like every year, they will get a chance to redeem themselves, but it won’t be for the next few months. With the win, Los Blancos secured their position at the top of the La Liga leaderboard. They are currently five points ahead of Blaugrana.
