REAL MADRID earned the bragging rights while also going top of LaLiga with victory over Barcelona in El Clasico.
Goals from Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo sealed a 3-1 win over the Catalans on Sunday.
Barca’s only goal came late on through sub Ferran Torres.
And the result means unbeaten Real are now top of the table as Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the league campaign.
Both teams named strong line-ups, with superstar strikers Robert Lewandowski and Benzema both starting.
But it was the latter who made an immediate impact when he opened the scoring for Real in the 12th minute.
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Benzema pounced after Marc-Andre ter Stegen spilled Vinicius Jr’s shot, firing it into the back of the net.
Real then doubled their lead 10 minutes before the break when Valverde struck from 20 yards out.
Barcelona were left stunned as boss Xavi Hernandez made wholesale changes throughout the second half.
And it looked to have paid off when Torres pulled one back with seven minutes to go.
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Ansu Fati narrowly missed the chance to level, but Barca’s hopes ended when Real won a 91st minute penalty which was put away by Rodrygo.
The result will be hard to take for Barcelona, who had over twice as many shots as Real and 57 per cent of the ball.
The Catalans are already on the brink of exit in the Champions League.
And their next run of games sees them face Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Bayern Munich and Valencia.
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As for Real, the defending champs have already booked their place in the last 16 of Europe.
They have a kinder run of fixtures coming up, playing Elche and struggling Sevilla before a continental tie at RB Leipzig.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
