Goals from Vinicius and Mariano from sharp corners and Messi's yellow card: how Real Madrid beat Barcelona in the presence of Ronaldo

The battle for leadership and the failed Real Madrid series in El Clasico

The next classic fans from around the world were waiting with particular interest, because Real and Barcelona are fighting a desperate fight for the championship. For a long time, Madrid were leading the standings, but a couple of misfires in the last rounds threw them into second place. The first with a margin of two points took the Catalans.

As for the unsuccessful meetings for the team of Zinedine Zidane, he first tied with Celta Fedor Smolov, and then sensationally lost on the road to Levant. In addition, in this fight, creamy lost another injured Eden Azar.

But all the local troubles faded against the backdrop of a home defeat from Manchester City, which put the 13-time Champions League winner on the verge of relegation from the tournament. However, the day before Barcelona also did not have the most successful match in the main European Cup, almost losing to Napoli on the road.

However, Madrid fans could well forgive their favorites for a painful defeat if they finally won the classic. After all, the royal club has not beaten the Catalans since August 2017 or for seven meetings.

Then Zidane's wards were stronger than a principled opponent in the Super Bowl game and eventually won the trophy. Since then, Real Madrid suffered four defeats from Barca and broke up with her three times. The meeting of the first round in the current season ended in a draw, and the opponents for the first time in a long time failed to print each other's gates.

This time, the former partners decided to personally support Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese came to Clasico and looked at him in the VIP box of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Courtois incredible saves and one shot by the hosts on target

The events in the first half initially developed so that it seemed that the audience could see another zero draw. Guests immediately took possession of the ball, but infrequently penetrated into someone else's penalty area, and the rivals practically did not leave them free space.

Real Madrid responded mainly with quick counterattacks. Especially often, Vinicius received the transfer on the left flank, but his high-speed passes, as a rule, ended in an unsuccessful transmission.

There were no moments. Creamy was noted only by a couple of inaccurate shots performed by Tony Kroos and Karim Benzema, and the Catalans - by the blow of Antoine Griezmann above the gate from a promising position.

But closer to the break, the game finally opened up, and Enrique Setena's wards immediately created two almost one hundred percent moments. At first, Arthur Ramos unexpectedly escaped to a rendezvous with Thibaut Courtois, but could not beat the Belgian. The goalkeeper competently stepped out of the goal and parried a ball flying into the far corner.

And then Lionel Messi, having received a long pass from Sergio Busquets, burst into the penalty area, but struck not in the best way. Courtois dealt with a projectile flying almost at him.

Real Madrid had no such chances. For the entire time, the hosts only hit one shot on target - Vinicius sent the ball directly into the hands of Marc-Andre ter Stegen from the penalty line. In general, the German remained virtually without work. At the same time, the feeling that the game could open at any moment did not leave.

Ter Stegen's Fantastic Rescue and Zidane's Unexpected Joker

And after the break it really happened. Barcelona started the time more actively, but soon Real Madrid missed some great moments at once to open an account.

First, a terrific save was made by ter Stegen. The German pulled the ball out of the far nine after a neat twisted strike by Isko from outside the penalty area. Then the goalkeeper confidently coped with a shot by Sergio Ramos in the corner.

A few minutes later, when Ter Stegen turned out to be powerless, Gerard Pique delivered a shell from the ribbon. Finally, Benzema frankly forgave the opponent when he burst into the penalty area and from a promising position struck above the alignment.

Barcelona responded with a dangerous moment to replace Martin Brightwright. The Dane could have distinguished himself with almost the first touch. He took advantage of the failure of Marcelo on the flank, broke into the penalty area and threw the ball over Courtois, but the defender secured the Belgian.

However, after just a few minutes, the team’s rookie became the unwitting co-author of Vinicius' goal. On the left edge, he did not fully defend and did not follow the Brazilian. As a result, he received an excellent cutting gear from Kroos, burst into the penalty area and struck from a rather sharp angle. Piquet tried to save the situation, but only exacerbated it by tweaking the ball into the net. Ter Stegen was already unable to react to such a rebound.

Vinicius became the youngest goal scorer in El Clasico in the 21st century. At the time of the match he was 19 years old and 233 days. It is noteworthy that the midfielder broke Messi's record, which first upset Real Madrid at the age of 19 years and 259 days.

In turn, the Argentinean on that day became the champion of the club for participation in classic. For him, this match with Madrid was 43rd in his career.

After that, Barca had no choice but to open up and take risks. Seten went all-in and threw Ansuman Faty into battle with Ivan Rakitic. But the Catalans failed to arrange a bulk in the end.

But Zidane completely guessed with the replacement. He unexpectedly included Mariano in the derby application, who was experiencing serious health problems and had not played a single match this season. In the last minute, the coach threw him into battle, and the attacker managed to score with the first touch. Moreover, the striker also struck from a rather sharp angle, and this time there was no rebound from the opponent.

So “Real” won a major victory in the derby, which helped the team return to first place in the Example. It is also important that the Madrid interrupted an unsuccessful series in matches with the Catalans and beat them for the first time since 2017. The blue grants spent two different halves, but in the first they did not realize their moments, for which they paid after the break.