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Aveek Chaudhuri, April 11, 2021

Real Madrid did it. Despite their obvious defensive crisis, they managed to defeat both Liverpool and Barcelona in consecutive games. Thanks to Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos, Zinedine Zidane’s men cruised to a comfortable 2-1 win over Barcelona. Being down by two at half-time, Ronald Koeman’s men were able to pull one back courtesy of Oscar Mingueza in the 60’ minute but ultimately could not do enough to salvage a point. Thus, Real Madrid completed their first league double over their rivals since the 2007-08 season.

Similar to the Liverpool game, Real Madrid once again had less possession of the ball but made the most of their chances. Real Madrid only had 31% possession while Barcelona dominated in 69%. However, both teams had similar numbers in terms of shooting. Los Blancos has 14 shots attempted with a poor 3 on target. Meanwhile, Barcelona had 18 total shots with also a poor 4 on target. Although both teams were limited in good chances, it was Real Madrid who were able to capitalize on their chances and win their third El Clasico in a row.

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In the first half, Barcelona were quite poor which resulted in Madrid scoring 2. The first goal came off a beautiful backheel from Benzema off a Lucas Vazquez ball in only the 13th minute. And a few minutes later, Kroos made it two with a deflected free kick in the 28’ minute. However, Barcelona came back to life in the second half and got one back with a Mingueza goal in the 60’ minute.

This result sees Zidane’s men go to the top of the La Liga table, level on points with Atletico Madrid while Barcelona remain one point behind. However, Real Madrid did come out of the match with a huge blow as Lucas Vazquez suffered a knee injury in the 43’ minute which forced him off the field. In the absence of multiple defenders like Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, Vazquez was one of the players who really stepped up, especially against LIverpool earlier in the week. It remains to be seen whether the likes of Álvaro Odriozola get the nod now to start and help maintain Madrid’s form.