La Liga: Madrid edge closer to title after El Clasico win

Barcelona, ​​April 22, 2024 (BASS/AFP) : El Clasico means more excitement, more drama. The last Clasico of the season was no exception. Jude Bellingham’s injury-time goal moved Real Madrid closer to the La Liga title after beating defending champions Barcelona 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. In this victory, Galacticora has strengthened the top position of the league table by leaving behind Barcelona with a clear margin of 11 points.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has heaped praise on the English midfielder. Such a win at this time of the season has boosted Madrid’s confidence a lot.
Despite being behind twice, Madrid came back to the match brilliantly with the goals of Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vasquez. Andres Christensen put Barcelona ahead twice in the first half and Firmin Lopez in the second half. Bellingham’s goal then sealed Madrid’s victory in added time.
Ancelotti said, ‘Bellingham did the right thing at the right time. He worked hard throughout the match. Bellingham had been scoreless for a long time. This goal of his may have built the foundation for us to win the league title.
Barcelona, ​​who are second in the table, put up a great fightback after being knocked out by PSG in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. But at last they had to submit to Bellingham. Madrid, who secured the last four after losing to Manchester City in midweek, went into the field yesterday with the same momentum. Ancelotti’s men did nothing wrong in the final Clasico of the season at home. Bellingham, a 20-year-old English midfielder, scored a brace in his first Clasico against Barcelona in October. The former Borussia Dortmund player has scored 21 goals in all competitions so far this season.
Vasquez, who scored all three goals in Madrid, said to Real Madrid TV after the match, ‘We have come a long way towards the La Liga title. We have had a great season this season. Now just waiting to make the end good. That’s why we are willing to do everything.’
Goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, the hero of the penalty save against City, made a mistake early in the match. His loss has also been paid to Madrid. In the 6th minute, the Ukrainian goalkeeper came off his line and Christensen headed the ball into an empty net from a corner. However, Vinicius leveled Madrid from a quick spot kick. 17-year-old centre-back Pau Kuberci was fouled when Vazquez’s pass was crossed into the Barça D-box by Juan Cancelo. Barcelona, ​​however, did not give up. They kept Madrid’s defense busy with one attack after another. Lamine Yamala in particular from the right did not relieve Eduardo Kamvinga at all. The 16-year-old’s clever flick from the corner was saved by Lunin, but Barcelona claimed the ball had crossed the goal line. Due to the lack of goal-line technology, VAR was unable to confirm the goal, much to the Catalans’ dismay.
At the end of the match, Barca coach Xavi said, ‘We couldn’t have done more than that. The result should have gone in our favour. It’s a shame not to have goal-line technology.’
Midfielder Frenkie de Jong left the field on a stretcher after suffering an ankle injury in first-half injury time following a challenge from Fede Valverde, leaving Barcelona reeling. After the break, Xavi replaced Christensen with Lopez. In the 69th minute, he was defeated while trying to block Yamal’s low shot, but Lopez put the ball in the net. In the 73rd minute, Vasquez equalized Madrid again with a cross from Vinicius. A powerful shot by Vinicius was brilliantly saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Bellingham made no more mistakes from Vasquez’s cross in stoppage time.
Earlier in the day, Atletico Madrid suffered a big blow in the fight to stay in the top four after losing 2-0 to Alaves. Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who are fourth in the table, are three points clear of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao.