Barcelona’s unbeaten start to the La Liga season has come to an end and the Blaugrana are no longer top of the table thanks to a 3-1 loss in El Clásico against Real Madrid.
Barça made a solid start to the game, dominating possession and attacking quickly between the lines, and Raphinha forced a good save from Andriy Lunin in the first 10 minutes.
But Karim Benzema scored right after, being first to the rebound from a Vinicius shot that was saved by Marc-André ter Stegen on a counter-attack that was started by Sergio Busquets’ inability to foul Toni Kroos in midfield.
Barça responded well to going behind and had several good moments in attack, and their best chance came when Robert Lewandowski missed an easy tap-in at the far post that would have made 1-1 midway through the period.
The Blaugrana continued to attack while Madrid were content to defend very deep and try to score a second on the counter, and that’s exactly how they got their second goal: Eric García made a poor mistake at the back which ignited a quick offensive move by the hosts, and Fede Valverde fired a rocket from outside the box to make it 2-0.
At halftime, Barça were playing well enough but couldn’t convert their chances while Madrid were ruthless and efficient with theirs.
It took until the 60th minute for the coach to act, bringing Gavi, Jordi Alba and Ferran Torres off the bench. The changes worked and Barça looked more of a threat going forward, and they were really dangerous once Ansu Fati came on and injected more speed and imagination into the attack.
And it was Ansu who made a brilliant solo move down the left wing and found Ferran all alone at the far post to make it 2-1 and give Barça a chance heading into the final 10 minutes. But Eric García was called for a penalty on Rodrygo in the 90th minute, and the Brazilian winger scored from the spot to make it 3-1 and seal the win for the home team.