BARCELONA — In a breathless Clásico, Barcelona fought back from 0-2 down to beat Real Madrid 4-3 on Sunday, taking a giant step towards winning the LaLiga title.
Kylian Mbappé put Madrid ahead from the penalty spot in the fifth minute and doubled the visitors’ lead shortly afterwards, to give Madrid hope of blowing the title race wide open at Montjuïc. But their joy was short-lived, as Eric García’s header reduced the deficit, Lamine Yamal’s curling shot made it 2-2, and Raphinha scored twice to see Barça go in 4-2 up at halftime.
Mbappé completed his hat trick in the 70th minute — played in by Vinícius Júnior — to set up a tense and dramatic finale, with late chances for both sides. Barça had a penalty appeal for an Aurélien Tchouaméni handball waved away, Madrid substitute Víctor Muñoz shot wide when through on goal, and Mbappé and Fermín López both had added-time goals disallowed.
The result leaves Barcelona seven points clear at the top of the LaLiga table with three games remaining, meaning they could clinch the title later this week. — Alex Kirkland
Barcelona on brink of LaLiga title
Barça brushed aside the disappointment of their Champions League exit in midweek to beat Madrid in extraordinary fashion and move within two points of the title. For a team that has repeatedly shown its mental strength this season, coming from behind time and again, perhaps it was no surprise that they were able to move on from that harrowing defeat to Internazionale so quickly.
It pretty much guarantees that Hansi Flick’s side will now end the campaign with a clean sweep of domestic trophies, having already beaten Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa and Copa del Rey finals. A win at local rivals Espanyol on Thursday will now be enough to clinch LaLiga — if Madrid don’t drop points to Mallorca on Wednesday — or with any combination of two points from their final three games.
Progress has also been made in the Champions League, even if the Inter loss stings, after reaching a first semifinal since 2019. Not many people would have predicted that level success at the start of the season after a trophy-less campaign last time out.
It’s a year which has been marked by the team’s resilience — with more than a dash of confidence injected by the likes of Yamal, who was once again sensational against Madrid.
“They can’t handle us this season,” the teenager said of Madrid just two weeks ago after Barça won the Copa final. He was right again here as Madrid crumbled after taking a two goal lead in the Catalan sunshine.
That’s four wins from four Clásicos this season now for Barça. A third trophy has not yet been sealed, but it’s just a matter of time now. Few will argue they make worthy champions. Aside from a run of four losses in seven games in November and December, they have been the best team in Spain throughout the course of the season. — Sam Marsden
Real Madrid’s defense exposed yet again by superior Barça
First, the excuses: it’s worth remembering that Real Madrid went into this game without their entire first-choice back four of Dani Carvajal, Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger and Ferland Mendy. In their places, there were two full-backs — Lucas Vázquez and Fran García — who have been repeatedly exposed this season, either side of a midfielder, Tchouameni, and a young prospect, Raúl Asencio.
But even so, the way that Barcelona tore Madrid apart in the latter stages of the first half, looking able to score almost at will, was a sight to behold.
If there was a single moment that summed up that defensive frailty, it was Vázquez meekly gifting the ball to Raphinha in the 45th minute. The Brazilian — as ruthless as any player in LaLiga this season — didn’t hesitate, exchanging passes with Ferran Torres before making it 4-2.
Vázquez’s hands immediately went to his head. As an experienced player, he knew that after a dream start, the game was close to being lost, and with it, the league title.
For Madrid, there was an awful sense of deja vu here: this wasn’t the first time Barcelona have effortlessly carved them open to score four goals in quick succession this season. In fact, it’s happened three times in four Clásicos this season.
Barça did it in the second half at the Santiago Bernabéu in October, scoring four goals in half an hour. They did it again in the first half of the Supercopa final in Jeddah, with four goals in 33 minutes. And they did it here at Montjuïc, with four goals in 26 minutes.
These spells should be epochal, iconic. The fact that it’s happened three times just this season tells you everything you need to know about this Barcelona team’s attacking prowess, and Madrid’s alarming defensive weakness. — Kirkland
Don’t worry about Barça’s high line, just enjoy them
Just sit back and enjoy this Barça side. Too often this season the analysis has focused on their high line. How many times have we heard ‘They will come unstuck when it really matters’ or some variation of that sentiment?
Well, here we are in May, and Barça are set to secure a domestic treble and have improved in Europe.
Besides, Flick doesn’t care. He knows his Barça side will concede goals with the way they play. They take risks and they will get caught out at times, but the positives have outweighed the negatives this season.
They have been involved in four game of the season contenders in the last fortnight alone: the Copa final against Madrid, both legs against Inter and this humdinger of a Clásico on Sunday which never relented from the moment Mbappé opened the scoring until López’s late effort was ruled out in stoppage time.
Barça have come from two goals down repeatedly: against Benfica in the Champions League, against Atlético Madrid twice, against Inter twice (before ultimately losing), even against Celta Vigo two weeks ago in LaLiga and now against Madrid. That is, in part, because of their high line and because of their high press. There have not been many more fun sides to watch in Europe this millennium.
In Yamal they have a player who you can’t take your eyes off. If he’s not the best player in the world yet, he’s certainly the best to watch. His goal against Madrid was sublime. He would have had a hat-trick of assists, too, if not for some wasteful finishing from Raphinha, who still managed to score two more goals to take his tally for the campaign to 34 in all competitions.
Of course there are flaws. Even here, it was clear they had not learned their lesson against Inter. Muñoz blazed over and Wojciech Szczęsny saved from Mbappé, who also had a goal ruled out for offside. There have also been too many individual errors in recent weeks, but that’s for Flick to work on over the summer. If he can correct that side of his team’s game, without losing their attacking edge, they will be even stronger next season. — Marsden
More goals for Mbappé, but no major trophies to show for it
“They’re numbers. The most important thing is winning trophies. Scoring goals is important, but if we don’t win trophies, it isn’t worth it.”
That was Kylian Mbappé, speaking in March. And here we are two months later, and Real Madrid are out of the Champions League, beaten Copa del Rey finalists, and — almost certainly — out of the LaLiga title race, after this wild afternoon at Montjuïc left Madrid seven points behind Barcelona with three games left.
Mbappé has now scored 39 goals in all competitions this season. It’s an impressive, club record-breaking total, almost beyond reproach. But — unless you count whatever Madrid do in the Club World Cup this summer — he’s going to end 2024-25 without a major trophy.
He scored when the team won the UEFA Super Cup, scored again when they won the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, and scored in final defeats in the Supercopa and Copa del Rey. In the Champions League, the highlight was a hat trick in Madrid’s playoff with Manchester City. And in what was effectively a LaLiga ‘final’ here, he scored a hat trick again, and could have added a fourth in added time to change the outcome, only to be denied by the offside flag.
Mbappé’s numbers are good, and his performance in this final Clásico of the season was excellent, his movement and clinical finishing punishing Barcelona’s infamous high defensive line. But by Mbappé’s own admission, that isn’t enough.
He spent too long at Paris Saint-Germain scoring plenty of goals without winning the Champions League that his talent, and status as a player, demands. He came to Madrid to change that. And so his season, regardless of those 39+ goals, will be widely viewed as a disappointment, maybe even by himself. — Kirkland
