Barca’s 4-3 El Clásico Thriller, Inspired By Raphinha And Yamal, Nears Them La Liga Glory

Barcelona produced a stunning comeback at Montjuic on Saturday to beat Real Madrid for the fourth time this season in all competitions and move seven points clear of their bitter rivals at the top of the table in Spain.

FIRST HALF

Barcelona made the worst possible start to the game when Wojciech Szczęsny brought down Kylian Mbappe and conceded a penalty. Mbappe duly converted the spot-kick to make it 1-0 after just three minutes.

Another goal wasn’t too far away. Lamine Yamal claimed to have been fouled after losing the ball but Madrid simply played on and worked the ball through to Mbappe to make it 2-0 with only 14 minutes on the clock.

Barcelona were in all sorts of trouble at that point but roared back in spectacular style. Eric Garcia gave the hosts hope when he headed in a corner, before Yamal curled home an exquisite shot to level it up.

And then it was over to Raphinha. Barca’s brilliant Brazilian was sent through on goal and slotted home comfortably to put the hosts ahead for the first time in the match. He then pounced on a mistake to make it 4-2 just before half-time to extend Barca’s lead.

SECOND HALF

Unsurprisingly the second half wasn’t quite as dramatic as the opening 45 minutes. Barca did get the ball in the back of the net early on when Raphinha squared for Yamal, but the effort was ruled out as the Brazilian was just offside in the build-up.

Instead it was Real Madrid who managed to score next. A quick break saw Vinicius Jr square for Mbappe to knock the ball home to reduce the deficit to just one goal and complete his hat-trick.

Yet Raphinha should have had a hat-trick, too. Yamal produced a brilliant outside-of-the-boot cross for the Brazilian to meet at the far post but he somehow managed to miss the target.

Barcelona then appealed for a penalty after a Ferran Torres shot was blocked in the penalty area by Aurélien Tchouaméni’s arm. There was a long wait as VAR had a look at it before deciding not to award a spot-kick.

Real Madrid did have chances in the dying minutes. Substitute Victor Munoz somehow managed to miss after being sent clear through, while Mbappe had an effort saved and then had a goal ruled out due to offside.

Barca thought they had scored again in stoppage time when substitute Fermin Lopez smashed home a fifth, only to see it ruled out for an apparent handball.

Yet it didn’t matter as seconds later the final whistle blew to confirm a magnificent victory that leaves Barca on the brink of the title.

Barcelona: Szczesny; Eric (Fort), Cubarsi (Christensen), Iñigo, Martín (Balde); De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo (Fermin), Raphinha; Ferran (Gavi)

Goals: Garcia 19’, Yamal 32’, Raphinha 34’, 45’

Real Madrid: Courtois; Vázquez, Tchouameni, Asencio, García; Güler, Ceballos, Valverde, Bellingham; Mbappé, Vinicius

Goals: Mbappe 3’, 14’, 69’

Barcablaugranes.com