El Clasico: Barcelona leave Madrid in tatters as Yamal makes history | OneFootball

Barcelona stretched their lead on top of the La Liga standings to six points with a stunning 4-0 rout of arch-rivals Real Madrid in Saturday’s El Clasico.

Fresh off dismantling Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League, Los Blaugranas headed into the game determined to end a four-game losing run against their fierce domestic rivals.

A game of numerous subplots, including Kylian Mbappe’s maiden appearance in El Clasico, swept away Los Merengues’ long-standing air of invincibility.

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu had stood firm in 42 consecutive matches before last night, highlighting the magnitude of the task Hansi Flick had to face in his first La Liga derby in charge of Barcelona.

However, the 59-year-old passed the exam with flying colours as the Catalan powerhouse put the other teams in Spain and on the continent on notice with a statement win in the capital.

Barcelona left the Bernabeu in ruins to maintain a dream La Liga start under Flick, making it ten wins from their first eleven league outings, not to mention a formidable +27 goal difference.

Field trumps paper

It’s been a while since anyone defeated Carlo Ancelotti’s overachieving Madrid team, let alone embarrassed them like Barcelona did last night.

Mbappe was supposed to be the missing piece to complete the puzzle and give the reigning Spanish champions a cutting edge in front of goal following Karim Benzema’s departure.

However, the Frenchman has been a shadow of a player who used to tear Ligue 1 defences apart during his trophy-laden stint at Paris Saint-Germain.

The 25-year-old’s finishing was part of the reason Madrid blanked in a home league match for the first time this season, as he wasted several clear-cut chances either side of half-time.

In his defence, he hit the net twice, only to be denied by the flag both times.

Vinicius Junior, Los Merengues’ saviour in a 5-2 comeback win against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, had a rare night off despite an electrifying start.

Jude Bellingham, another superstar component of this star-studded side, had a near-anonymous performance, which has become a recurring theme for him since Mbappe’s arrival.

A lack of cohesion within this Madrid side came to the fore on Saturday as Barcelona ruthlessly exposed Madrid’s disjointed attack and defensive vulnerabilities.

In doing so, the Camp Nou outfit prevented their eternal rivals from equalling their record of 43 successive games unbeaten in Spain’s top flight.

Despite the abundance of individual talent, Ancelotti’s team failed to gel, with disconnections between the midfield and forward lines becoming glaringly obvious.

Robert LewanGoalski reminds Madrid who he is

Robert Lewandowski and Flick are a match made in heaven.

The veteran striker has rolled back the years under his ex-Bayern coach, with last night’s brace taking his outstanding seasonal tally to 14 goals from 11 La Liga matches.

He opened the scoring with a top-class finish from the edge of the box after expertly avoiding Madrid’s attempt to trap him in an offside position before doubling Barcelona’s lead with a towering header two minutes later.

Lewandowski’s quick-fire brace at the start of the second half set the tone for a remarkable night for the visiting side.

The 36-year-old striker took Madrid fans on a trip down memory lane, reminding them of his iconic quadruple in the 2013 Champions League semi-finals while at Borussia Dortmund.

Despite the goals, it wasn’t a vintage Lewandowski performance, given that the Polish talisman fumbled two sitters in less than five minutes, falling short of a hat-trick.

What a win would it be without Lamine Yamal’s landmark?

Considered a future Ballon d’Or winner by many people, Yamal fortified his reputation as an elite star, becoming the youngest-ever goalscorer in this fixture to make it 3-0.

At the age of 17 years and 105 days old, Yamal made El Clasico history at the Bernabeu, shattering Alfonso Navarro’s record set in 1947.

Yamal was a thorn in their side since the outset, twisting and turning around Antonio Rudiger and Ferland Mendy as if the latter was a second-tier defender.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say he ended the Frenchman’s career.

Shortly after Yamal’s thumping right-footed finish, Raphinha put the icing on the cake with a delightful dink over Andriy Lunin, adding to Madrid’s misery.

One man’s loss is another man’s gain

Ancelotti cannot be happy about his side’s performance, especially as he hoped to become the first Madrid boss to win three games at home in the El Clasico since 1991.

On top of that, a win would’ve made the most-decorated Italian only the third coach in El Clasico history to win five or more games on the trot after Pep Guardiola and Miguel Munoz.

Barcelona’s jaw-dropping performance made Flick the first Blaugrana manager to take three points on his touchline debut in El Clasico since Gerardo Martino in 2013.

With this memorable win, Barcelona announced the beginning of a new era under the German boss, blending youthful exuberance with seasoned experience to devastating effect.