Match report
Righto, that then is us; Sid Lowe’s report will be with us shortly, and as soon as it is, it’ll be in here and up on site. Otherwise, thanks all for your company and comments, but I’m afraid we’re at that point again: we’re straight out of football for another weekend. Other hand, though, what a weekend it’s been – and if it’s more sport you’re after, worry not for we got you. Peace out people.
Elsewhere, Girona now lead Atléti, beaten by Alavés by seven points, and they are going into the Champions League. What a glorious victory for the little guy.
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The Bernabeu is absolutely bouncing, the title effectively confirmed against the hated enemy. The task for Ancelotti now is to get everyone to the Bayern semi rested but match-fit; much easier said than done.
“Jude Bellingham is simply out of this world,” reckons Colum Fordham. “Brahim Diaz did most of the hard work but Bellingham is always in the right place at the right time. With either foot. When was the last time two of the top five players in the world were English? Foden and Bellingham are surely there or thereabouts.”
Hmmm, I guess it depends; do we count keepers and defenders, who are usually absent from such lists? Both need to do more over more seasons, and in the biggest matches to ensconce among the elite of the elite, but I’m certain that’ll happen.
I forgot to say, when Bellingham scored, he and his mates dived into the crowd, then he posed in front of them, reminding anyone who cares to know that he is that man. I’d still like to see more from him across the 90, but his ability to alter the outcome of matches, in so many different ways, is sensational.
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Full time: Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona
Phew! Madrid win, lead by 11 points with six games left, and the title is theirs.
90+5 min Jude Bellingham, though. Ages ago, I watched an interview asking him if he was excited to play with all the good players at Dortmund. “Yes, but I’m pretty good myself,” he replied, and that’s the thing with him: so much justifiable confidence, such that when he got a chance to win the clasico and with it the title, there was only one feasible outcome.
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90+4 min Barca win a corner down the left, Ter Stegen comes up, and nothing comes of it.
90+3 min Madrid have always looked to have the necessary to do the necessary here – Barca are less good and have had injury troubles – and they’ve been the best side in Spain by miles this season. Can they augment the title with their 69th European Cup?
GOAL! Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona (Bellingham 90+2)
JUDE BELLINGHAM HAS WON THE TITLE FOR REAL MADRID! Diaz oozes forward through the middle and finds Lucas Vazquez down the right, Joselu steps over his low cross looking to flick it, and wouldn’t you just know it, that boy, that grownarse man, slams an expert’s finish into the roof from an acute angle! Madrid are going 11 points clear with six games to go!
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90 min We’ll have four additional minutes.
89 min Madrid are nearly there. If they see this out, but can’t see out a eight-point lead with six games to go, it’ll be one of the great collapses, any league.
87 min Modric swings in, Militao stretches and can’t divert the ball goalwards, but it squirts square, Bellingham can’t quite reach it, and it runs across Joselu, he can’t quite curl his foot around it, slicing wide instead. He’s saved by the offside flag.
86 min Diaz makes space down the left and feeds square to Bellingham, inside the box. He can’t make anything of it, so Madrid keep the ball, time elapses, and and when Bellingham feeds Brahim a second time, he turns adroitly and Fermin can only foul; free-kick Madrid, left of centre, 25 yards out.
84 min Gundogan, outside the box, pokes a clever pass in behind, Fermin after it, but Fran Garcia does really well to slide in from behind, Lunin thus able to tidy up.
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83 min Felix gets away from Modric, who kicks him up the air and accepts his booking; or, as my gran would’ve said, his booke-ing.
83 min Vinicius, by the way, did not look amused by his replacement, but he’s looked shattered all half.
82 min Vinicius has run his little polyester socks into the ground, and he’s replaced by Joselu, who I guess Madrid will look to play off, whether in to feet or crosses into the box.
80 min Barca know they only need one chance, and in the 10 minutes and extras that remains, they’d expect to create at least one; Madrid will fancy themselves to pinch it on the counter.
78 min Lunin saves from Felix, passes out of his hands like Sander Westerveld and suddenly Vinicius is away, Diaz alongside and defenders in pursuit. But he goes a little wide, a heavy touch narrowing the angle, so when he shoots powerfully, Ter Stegen is able to block away. He shouldn’t have smelt it, but it’s a fine save.
77 min “Your thoughts on trying to score direct shots from corners took me back to Euro 1996,” writes Leo. “In Spain-Bulgaria Stoichkov spanked every corner just like DeBruyne vs Madrid et all.. But yeah, for an entire week it has been quite trendy. Doesnt seem to produce many goals though. But done well those kicks bring excitement every time. So all for them.”
if you load men on the keeper and the keeper isn’t great under pressure or high balls, it’s a decent option – all the more so if it goes shot to improve the angle.
76 min And here is Tchouameni, definitely in midfield, shooting low and hard … but straight at Ter Stegen. I think Diaz is now up front alongside an exhausted-looking Vinicius.
76 min I guess Tchouameni will move into midfield with Militao at centre-back – though five in defence might make some sense to try and see out the point.
75 min Change for Madrid, Eder Militao for Rodrygo.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-2 Barcelona (Lucas Vazquez 73)
Valverde creates spoace in midfield, beating his man and finding Vinicius down the left, who crosses beautifully, bending the ball around Kounde, and at the back post, Vazquez controls a fine finish, one bounce and punched inside the near post. The title is back in Madrid’s grasp!
72 min Bellingham slides in, Fifa 98-style, as Ter Stegen tries to clear; he does the necessary, just.
71 min Vinicius tries rousing the crowd; Ancelotti tries Fran Garcia and Brahim Diaz for Camavinga and Kroos.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (Fermin 69)
NOW THEN! Madrid haven’t really got going this half and Torres spreads to Yamal who cunningly curls into the box – one of those that the keeper can’t move for till he’s sure no one else is getting a touch. So all he can do is shove away, Torres leaping over the ball to confuse matters further, and Fermin is there to ram home the rebound! The title race is alive!
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66 min Big Pedri heads the corner clear but Madrid recycle possession and Vinicius crosses from the by-line; the ball may or may not have hit Kounde’s hand, then seconds later someone – Felix I think – control beautidfully and sets Torres away, Camavinga in pursuit! He holds him off really well, looks to have done all the hard work, then digs out a finish that scoots wide. He’ll be relieved to see the offside flag raised.
65 min First flash of Felix, flipping a cunning pass in behind, but Tchouameni reads it well and clears, then Madrid roll down the other end and win a corner down the right, Modric to swing out (sister).
64 min Double change for Barca, Joao Felix and Ferran Torres replacing Lewandowski and Raphinha. I doubt the former is impressed, but he can’t argue he’s earned the right to stay on – tonight or given his recent levels.
63 min Lewadowski’s header finds Yamal down the right but Fermin can’t do anything with his cross, then slices a shot wide when the ball comes back to him.
61 min Barca are in the ascendancy now but they’re struggling to create. Lewandowski has done almost nothing but, as I type, a pass over the top from Araujo sets him away in behind. And his first touch is a goodun, killing the ball as it arrives from over his shoulder but taking him a little wide, and all he can do from there is hoist a lob that doesn’t threaten the goal.
59 min I mean. I’ve no idea how Rudiger wasn’t red-carded for this, and though that Fermin incident wasn’t as egregious, it felt like he deliberately impeded his man, but was able to create sufficient doubt such that the ref couldn’t give a penalty. Xavi, as you might imagine, felt differently.
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57 min Madrid are looking a little leggy now and Fermin scavenges inside the box, so Rudiger pulls out his tried-and-tested move, making sure an opponent runs into him – ask Kevin de Bruyne about that one – and Madrid clear.
55 min It’s been a tepid start to the half, but when a Barca attack breaks down, two straight passes – one into Bellingham, one to free Vinicius – and Madrid are away! He’s got Vubarsi and Kounde goalside of him though, so has to dig out an early shot that flies over the top.
53 min Madrid move forward and Bellingham, growing in influence, finds Vinicius, whose attempted pass between defenders to Vazquez is intercepted.
53 min Vinicius runs at Kounde, who looks beaten then gets back to tackle. He’s developing very nicely.
52 min Cancelo turns a ball around the corner so Vazquez yanks his back and is booked.
50 min Modric pinches possession on halfway and sets off towards goal, finding Bellingham, who works a shooting lane then leathers straight at Ter Stegen.
48 min If this stays a draw, Madrid will lead by eight with six to go; Barca must win.
46 min Immediately, Barca set Yamal at Camavinga and he gets away, but with no one alongside him, he ends up checking, cutting inside and shooting straight at Lunin.
46 min We go again…
Half-time change: Barca bring on Fermin for Christensen. They need to win, so have gone for a mouser able to recover early balls; I’m not sure who plays in front of the defence, Pedri or Gundogan, but of them will have to.
Half-time email: “Well, I agree, I’d like Bellingham to be a box-to-box player,” says Cliffi, “but he needs a number 9, Madrid don’t have a 9 and playing him high has enabled them to probably win the league. Next year they’ll get a 9 and his position will change.”
I hope so, but even if they change to 4-3-3 won’t he still be the attacker behind the front man?
Half-time: Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona
That was an enjoyable run-around, but it’ll be the home side happier with the current state of play.
45+7 min We get going again, Pedri on to the pitch.
45+4 min De Jong and Valverde both swing hard to boot the ball, boot each other, and De Jong comes off worse, his foot twisting. He looks devo’d, and I think that’s his evening done, Pedri to replace him; eesh, he’s stretchered off, hands over face, presumably contemplating the viability of his summer plans. I think it’s a twisted ankle, so I’d guess he’ll be OK for then, but he just can’t get a break.
45+3 min “Why no goal line tech?” wonders Rodney Sharkey. “Do they want VAR to undermine the only manifestation of digital refereeing that fans universally accept?”
Javier Tebas, in his infinite wisdom, decided it was too expensive. Tebas’ salary recently went up to a potential 5.4m euros a year.
45+2 min Out of nowhere, Christensen gives it away just outside his own box as Bellingham bites at him from behind; Vinicius is away and chops a terrific square-pass to Rodrygo, who can’t quite get his shot away. on reflection, he should’ve gone alone nitI can see why he didn’t because in theory, he was putting his mate in on goal when he had defenders blocking the road.
45+1 min Barca win a free-kick just outside the box, left of centre with Gundogan behind it. He’s not been in the game much but he swishes a decent effort over the wall … and just over the bar. We’ll have four additional minutes.
43 min Madrid work their way forward then Rodrygo tees-up Modric, whose low shot is saved easily enough.
42 min Madrid aren’t controlling midfield in the way they’d have planned to, on which point, a question: over the last few days, a few people have told me they dealt with City, more or less keeping the chance-count down. I can’t have that: there’s not a chance the gameplan was to defend the box and hope for penalties, though they did that pretty well.
41 min Vinicius gets away, crosses low and hard … just too hard for the sliding Rodrygo.
40 min On the subject of corners, is it the case that players are trying to score from them these days? I feel like i’ve seen a fair few efforts look to hit the far top-corner and Raphinha is definitely looking to catch the keeper under the ball.
38 min Bellingham is a spectator. I think what should be done with him is what Roberto Mancini did with Yaya Touré: start him deep where he can control the game, then if you need something later in the game, get him closer to the opposition goal. Meantime, Barca have another right-wing corner and again, Raphinha spins in an animal, a succession of defenders and attackers contriving to miss it.
36 min Madrid look to reestablish control, moving the ball about at the back before moving through midfield, Rodrygo carrying the ball at inside-right, but his flicked pass seeking Vinicius is intercepted.
34 min Raphinha curls the free-kick over the top.
33 min It’s been a strange half-hour really, Barca scoring when second-best and staying second-best, Madrid scoring when on top before immediately losing control. And, as I type, Yamal gets in behind Camavinga, who trips him because he has to; Barca need to feed him whenever possible, because he’s got it over his marker, who’s now carrying a yellow card too.
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31 min Yamal attacks Camavinga on the outside, Camavinga slides in … and does just enough, getting a bit of the ball before Yamal clips him in order to fall over. No penalty.
30 min No goal and on we go.
29 min There’s a pause while VAR investigates, but with no conclusive evidence either way and without goalline technology, we go with the on-pitch call. And, as I type, we see it again, this time from an angle that implies not all of the ball was over the line.
28 min He goes low to the near post – avant-garde of him – the ball clips Vazquez, and Lunin shovels out from on or beyond the goalline depending on your bent. It looked in to me I must say, but it’s very hard to be sure from the angles we’ve seen, the keeper’s body blocking the camera angle.
28 min Barca win another corner, Raphinha to curl in…
27 min “I was brought up short when I realised that Kroos is twice Yamal’s age,” says Kári Tulinius. “Then my brain just about shut down when I worked out that Modric is over two decades older than Yamal, and that I can remember seeing Modric play before Yamal was born. I meant to watch some football, but now I’m contemplating the inexorable nature of time.”
As Bob said, '“none of them can stop the time”; as Nas echoed, Time is illmatic.
26 min Since conceding, Barca have managed to stem the flow of Madrid attacks and are moving the ball about themselves now. It’s a bit slow, but they’ve a few able to inject pace out of nowhere.
24 min “I think we are all contractually obliged to say ‘Hay Liga’ at this point,” writes Jamie O’Sullivan. “I’m also in disbelief that Pedri is getting the rest he needs, when he needs it these days.”
I’m sure we’ll see him later, but in the meantime Barca have another corner … this time headed over the top by Lewandowski. They look dangerous fro set-pieces.
22 min Bellingham sends a long one down the left for Camavinga, who skates around Yamal only to overrun the ball and win a corner off De Jonh; it comes to nothing.
21 min I’ve got a question about Jude Bellingham: like Cesc Fabregas, he’s so good on the ball that moving him forward makes some sense. but it also means, especially against other good teams, he’s barely involved. The first time I saw him play I thought “Bryan Robson” and there’s no higher praise than that. But he’s now half the player he could be because we’ve lost his ability to run with the ball and hit long passes.
19 min Given how this is going, it’s hard to see how Barca win here. They were handed a goal, but as soon as that happened they’ve barely got out, and not many sides can offer Madrid the run of the Bernabeu and make off with anything.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (Vinicius Jr pen 18)
Vinicius opens body, punches bottom right … ish … and Ter Stgen goes the right way but there’s just enough power to take it past him – he gets fingertips to it but no more.
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Penalty to Madrid!
17 min Vazquez skirts around Cancelo, whose challenge is tame, skips along the by-line, Cubarsi dangles a leg, and he makes certain to fall over it.
15 min Do Barca have the defensive mettle to ride out pressure? Because they’re going to have to. Ands as I type, Vazquez crosses, can’t pick out Bellingham, and Araujo clears.
14 min Yamal isolates Camavinga, dashes around the outside of him, and crosses low; Lunin gets it behind, and the corner comes to nowt.
14 min What do you get if you cross a midfielder with a hip-hop act given to wearing jeans the wrong way around?
Kriss-Kroos
13 min It’s a decent ball too, Rodrygo and Rudiger up, Cubarsi between them; it’s Rodrygo there first, but he heads high.
12 min Madrid maintain pressure, winning a free-kick on the edge of the box, right of centre; Kroos will swing it out…
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11 min Madrid knock it about outside the Barca box, Modric moving and dictating. He feeds Lucas Vazquez, whose cross is cleared, the Bellingham plays into Rodrygo, whose backheeled return asks too much of his mate.
10 min Yeah, Madrid are pushing the pace now, Camavinga charging down the left and running out of pitch. Back to the goal, Lunin is the latest to prove my unarguable footballing truth: dodgy keepers save penalties.
8 min The game hadn’t got going yet; well it has now! And back coem Madriud, Tchouameni flipping into the box, where Luka Ormondroyd wins the flick-on … and on the stretch, Vinicius sends his shot over the top! He made decent contact there, and that little passage showed how easy it can be to carve out a scoring opportunity.
GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona (Christensen 6)
He’s a goalmachine! One in Paris and now, when Raphinha swings in a brute, Lunin flaps underneath it and Christensen nods into the unguarded net! The title race is still alive!
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5 min Barca win a corner down the right, Araujo and Christensen tramping forward.
4 min We’ve not got going yet but Madrid suddenly swarm forward, Valverde leading the charge, but when the ball reaches Vinicius on the edge, his shot is blocked at source.
2 min Mistake from Lunin, dipping shoulder to evade Lewandowski before passing straight to Raphinha; he can’t control and Tchouameni sweeps clear.
1 min I guess Xavi is looking to nick this, staying solid and hoping his attackers can conjure sufficient. That feels like a forlorn hope, but if his back four play well, Barca have a chance.
1 min And away we go!
We’re ready to go…
Our teams are tunnelled … and here they come! What a feeling this must be, walking up those stairs and out into this. Enjoy it, boys.
Is tonight a good time to play Madrid? They expended a lot of energy at City, physically and emotionally. The experience of Modric and Kroos might help in that aspect, especially because Barca’s midfield doesn’t look equipped to run them out of it.
In the studio, Albert Ferrer is talking about Raphinha’s new hybrid attacking midfield/winger role. He’s looked good recently, but it’s the lad on the opposite flank who we’ll all be watching; Lamine Yamal is a potential superstar, and will fancy himself against both Madrid full-backs.
How funny that while Kroos and Modric are in tandem once more, Casemiro is chipping penalties straight to Champo goalies. I wonder if Ancelotti is anticipating a slow-paced game after both sides exerted themselves so ferociously in midweek; I guess Marca’s midfield isn’t the most physical, so he’s trusting class and nous above legs and physicality.
“Had not seen the Bernabeu redesign until today,” admits Sean Orlowicz. “It looks like a very large external hard drive. What an atrocity.”
I dunno. I think it looks quite sleek, though not like Archibald Leitch designed it, and inside I’m sure it’s still one of, if not the greatest footballing theatre in the world.
Email! “I have no horse in this race,” says Adam Griffiths, “but Barcelona putting out their line-up in squad number rather than position order means I want them to get a) fired from a catapult into a volcano and b) a right doing tonight.”
I am, of course, impartial, but also I can’t argue with facts.
I guess what Christensen might give Barca is a passing option. Both he and and De Jong can drop in between the centre-backs and move the ball forward, but it means there’s a lot of creative responsibility on Ilkay Gundogan.
Back to Pedri, I really, really hope he can get himself fit enough to be the player he should be: the best or among the best of his generation. The combination of eye, technique and intelligence is sensational.
The Bernabéu looks swish from on top, it has to be said. Not much like a football ground, more a space station – or, put another way, they might’ve copied the Reebok.
As for Barca, they make one change from their midweek horror: Pedri drops to the bench, with Andreas Christensen taking his place in midfield. That feels a bit like replacing your strimmer with a brick, but there you go.
Those teams, then. Real Madrid welcome back Aurélien Tchouaméni, who’ll play centre-back; he replaces Nacho, who served his earthly purpose in midweek. At right-back, Lucas Vázquez is in for Dani Carvajal, who might still be tired from his exertions well into next month; at left-back, Éduardo Camavinga moves out of midfield to replace Ferland Mendy; and into the gap in midfield arrives Luka Modric.
Aha, it appears our pre-match presentation amounts to … nothing? But Atlético are 1-0 down to Alavés with two minutes left – great news for Girona who, if the score remains the same, will be very close to the Champions League.
I’m just back from Wembley, 6 years older than I was this morning and am now getting myself sorted with a sub to the relevant channel. After which hen we’ll talk properly about what all this means.
The teams!
📋✅ Our starting 𝗫𝗜!
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 21, 2024
🆚 @FCBarcelona#ElClásico pic.twitter.com/gLXbRepFej
🚨 BARÇA XI 🚨#ElClásico pic.twitter.com/Z2IxCz9eaS
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 21, 2024
Preamble
They couldn’t could they? Barcelona begin today eight points off the top and by any measure are less good than Madrid, their European fortunes illustrating the gap: Barca lost a tie they might’ve won, Madrid won a much harder one they should’ve lost.
However! After ploughing through 90 minutes and extra time chasing the ball, it might just be that the euphoria and dump – physical and mental – extract a toll. And if they do, Barca absolutely have the players not only to win tonight but to make the title race a race again.
Because make no mistake, this Madrid side are not there yet, their presence at the top of the league and in the Champions League last four a reflection not of their coherence but of the incredible individuals who have defined their club since the fifties. Thing is, Barca are over-furnished in the same department, their attackers good enough to devastate any opponent and their defending improving.
As such, there’s plenty of added heat to a contest that requires no such thing. Let’s get involved!
