How Jude Bellingham's stoppage-time El Clasico winner extended Real Madrid's La Liga lead over Barcelona (2024)

• 6': Christensen headed Barcelona into an early lead on a corner.
• 18': Vinicius Jr scored a penalty after Cubarsi fouled Vazquez in the box.
• 28': VAR declined to award Yamal a goal after a goal-line save by Lunin.
• 45+6': De Jong left the match on a stretcher after injuring his ankle.
• 69': Fermin tapped home to give Barca a 2-1 lead.
• 73': Lucas Vazquez slammed home an equaliser for Real Madrid.
• 90+1': Bellingham scored to give Madrid their first lead of the game.

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Barcelona realistically had to take all three points to keep their faint hopes of defending their La Liga crown alive. Even (what looked like being) a spirited draw would have felt like an anti-climactic fizzling out to their late-season revival.

Bellingham’s late strike looks like the crushing blow that will bring an inconsistent season, and Xavi’s tumultuous reign as manager, to a brutal and trophy-less close.

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A 2-2 draw would have suited Real Madrid fine, but it was perhaps inevitable that Jude Bellingham would break his scoring drought against his side’s great rivals. He ghosted in unmarked in stoppage time to get on the end of Lucas Vazquez’s low cross — as if Barca’s defenders had forgotten he could score — and sent a shot high into the net.

Cue that celebration, which Madrid fans will surely have missed since February.

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Xavi kept saying pre-game that this was “the most important game of the season”.

So the Barca coach must have been frustrated after his team had gone ahead early, only for a basic error by left-back Joao Cancelo to allow Vazquez in behind him, which led directly to Madrid’s equaliser from the penalty spot by Vinicius Jr.

Xavi’s thoughts on his squad also seemed clear when he withdrew the team’s senior goalscorer, Lewandowski, with the score at 1-1 and with 30 minutes remaining.

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Neither team could wrestle control in a scattergun first half, both sides loose in possession and porous in their high press. It was Barcelona’s riskier out-of-possession approach, however, that provided them with a foothold in the game and their most effective route to the byline.

Xavi’s side were threatening from set pieces and they won their first of the game from a Madrid goal kick. With Ilkay Gundogan stationed high to man-mark Toni Kroos, the conductor could not receive the ball and dictate play from deep. Christensen also stuck to Bellingham tightly, while De Jong kept an eye on Luka Modric in a deeper position.

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Barcelona thought they had gone 2-1 ahead when Yamal’s near-post flick at a corner arrowed the ball towards goal. Lunin got across to shovel it out, but the impression watching — and Barca’s players shared it — was that the ball had crossed the line and 16-year-old Yamal had added ‘youngest Clasico goalscorer’ to his already long list of records.

However, that could not be proven, as unlike most other big leagues, La Liga does not have goal-line technology. After a VAR check — broadcast pictures only showed two angles from which it was impossible to tell for sure — the score stayed at 1-1.

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Andriy Lunin’s emergence has been one of the stories of the season for Real Madrid. The Ukrainian goalkeeper has stepped up in Thibaut Courtois’ absence through injury, as illustrated by his fine penalty shootout performance against Manchester City in midweek.

But his showing here was proof of the pressure that comes with being Madrid’s No 1. Lunin was shaky in the opening stages, clearing straight to Raphinha when Robert Lewandowski put him under pressure and then producing the error that led to Barca’s opening goal in the sixth minute. Raphinha swung in a corner and Lunin flapped at it, allowing Christensen to head into an empty net.

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Works on Real Madrid’s renovation of their Santiago Bernabeu stadium are still not quite finished, but we did see the new 360-degree video screens around the ground in action for the first time.

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Another big result in Real Madrid's fancy new Bernabeu. The changes made to the stadium have not been lost on Ancelotti.

"The stadium is spectacular, with a spectacular atmosphere," he said. "This is a stadium that has given us and will give us a lot of points.

"It's a stadium that pushes and a fan base that has the same enthusiasm and the same desire as us. This connection allows us to always get the best out of ourselves."

Lucas Vazquez and Bellingham combined for Real Madrid's winning goal and marked it with a dance that had clearly been rehearsed.

"(It's) a very cool photo," said Vazquez. "We've done that celebration at some training session and today was the right moment."

He then gave his opinion on which player should win La Liga's Player of the Season award.

"It has to be between Jude and Vini," he said. "They're both spectacular, maybe the surprise with Jude will tip the balance."

Tonight marked Federico Valverde's 250th appearance in the white of Real Madrid.

Not a bad way to bring up such a significant milestone for the Uruguayan!

And who else but Jude Bellingham to pop up with the winning goal?

"He came to us at the right time," said Ancelotti. "He played a big game today with a lot of effort. He hadn't score for a while but he scored a goal that can help us win the title."

• Real Madrid have now won four straight meetings with Barcelona in all competitions, including three this season. It's just the fifth time that Madrid have won at least three Clasicos in a single season, and the first since 2012-13.
• Real Madrid are now unbeaten in their last 26 La Liga matches, four shy of the longest run in club history.
• Atletico Madrid remains the only team to have beaten Real Madrid in any competition this season with Diego Simeone's side beating their city rivals in La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

11 points is an almost insurmountable gap to breach for Barcelona, something Ancelotti is very aware of.

"It's a big step towards winning the league," he said. "We have a big advantage now, but we need to win more points. And we have to prepare for the Champions League as well."

He was then asked about Vinicius Jr's unhappy reaction to being substituted in the second half.

"Vinicius didn't like being replaced because he wanted to continue, but he has shown a big effort," continued Ancelotti. "We have asked him to defend, to work for the team and they (the forwards) are the ones that cover more ground.

"They have speed, they run hard, they always want to attack so they use a lot of energy. I understand that he wanted to keep playing, but we needed fresh legs."

Ancelotti did not allow himself to get drawn into an argument with Xavi over the controversial decisions in the match.

"I don't want to talk about what Xavi thinks, everyone has their own opinion," said the Real Madrid boss. "I want to analyse the game. It was an evenly matched game. Barcelona had their moments and we had our moments as well.

"We used all of our energy at the end to increase our lead in the table."

While emphasising that he did not want to risk punishment for his comments, Xavi was not happy with the decisions made in the game.

"We lost due to circ*mstances outside our control. It's a shame," he said. "Everyone has seen what happened and I don't want to say things they'll punish me for.

"Everyone saw it, the ball went it (in the 28th minute). What happened today is a huge injustice. Everyone saw it."

Xavi felt his side deserved a lot more than the defeat they were ultimately served at the Bernabeu.

"We should be proud with the way we competed, we played very well," he said. "Especially in the second half, we controlled the game in some stages and we defended well.

"I think we deserved to win the game because we played very well."

Bellingham's integration into the dressing room at Real Madrid is perhaps best illustrated by his dancing after scoring the winning goal.

His moves could do with some work and he is not quite Vinicius Jr yet, but he is getting there!

Lucas Vazquez was the unlikely hero of the night for Real Madrid as he played a starring role in all three goals.

"It's a huge step for us," he told La Liga TV. "It was tough in our schedule and this game moves us closer to the title. We wanted to win so we're very happy."

As for his own performance, he didn't want to take too much credit.

"I'm very happy to help the team," he said. "We all worked very well since the start of the game to the end and we're happy to take a big step."