Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona, La Liga: Mbappe, Bellingham Strikes Extends RMA's League Advantage Over BAR

Real Madrid extended their lead at the top of LaLiga to five points with a clinical 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

There was plenty of drama early on as Madrid were awarded a penalty just four minutes in when Lamine Yamal slid in on Vinicius Junior, though the decision was overturned following a VAR review.

Kylian Mbappe thought he had given Madrid the lead in the 12th minute but saw his effort ruled out for offside before eventually netting the opener 10 minutes later, finishing calmly after latching onto a sublime defence-splitting pass from Jude Bellingham.

Wojciech Szczesny was then forced into a brilliant reflex save to keep Los Blancos at bay as Dean Huijsen strode forward to poke at Eduardo Camavinga’s floated cross over the top of the defence.

ALSO READ | Match Highlights

It was end-to-end action from then on and Barcelona found their equaliser in the 38th minute when Pedri played Marcus Rashford through, with Fermin Lopez on hand to thump home from the latter's centre.

But parity did not last long as Bellingham restored Madrid’s lead on the stroke of half-time. Vinicius raced down the wing and clipped a looping cross to the back post, where Eder Militao nodded back across goal for Bellingham to tap in from close range.

Los Blancos were then handed a golden chance to put the game to bed as Eric Garcia was penalised for a handball inside the box seven minutes into the second half, but Mbappe failed to dispatch the spot-kick, with Szczesny making a splendid top-corner save.

The hosts continued to dictate play and thought they had a third when Bellingham finished coolly again, but the flag was raised for offside against Brahim Diaz.

Tensions flared late on as Pedri was shown a second yellow card deep into stoppage time for a reckless slide on Aurelien Tchouameni.

And Madrid comfortably managed the closing stages to secure the win, remaining top of LaLiga on 27 points, five ahead of second-placed Barca.

Data Debrief: Mbappe shines as Madrid create five-point cushion

After seeing Real Madrid lose all four meetings with Barcelona last season, Xabi Alonso will be thrilled to mark his first Clasico in charge with a statement win.

Indeed, Madrid were dominant throughout on Sunday, producing an impressive 3.48 expected goals (xG) compared to Barcelona’s paltry 0.97 xG.

Mbappe, meanwhile, continued his remarkable record against Barcelona.

He became just the third player to score in four consecutive El Clasico fixtures across all competitions in the 21st century (six goals), joining Ronaldinho (2004–2006, four matches, five goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2012, six matches, seven goals).