(Football news) Before the game had even reached the 20-minute mark, Vinicius Junior calmly converted a penalty kick to tie the score at one. Andreas Christensen had given Barcelona the early lead.
When the referees decided that Lamine Yamal’s attempt had not crossed the line in the 33rd minute, it became one of the major talking points of the match. Fermin Lopez gave Barcelona their lead again, but Lucas Vazquez’s second goal of the year soon had them trailing.
With time ticking away, Bellingham popped up to score a stoppage-time winner against Barcelona for the second time this season. The win moves Carlo Ancelotti’s side to the brink of the league title, with Los Blancos now boasting a 11-point advantage over their Clasico rivals ahead of the final six matches.
Following their midweek Champions League exit, the Catalan giants could not have wished for a better pick-me-up, taking the lead in the opening stages through Christensen.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin got caught under a deep corner, allowing Christensen to nod home from close range. Barcelona ultimately gifted Real Madrid the chance to level in the 18th minute when Pau Cubarsi was penalised for fouling Vazquez in the box.
Vinicius stepped up to send his penalty past Marc-Andre ter Stegen to register his 13th La Liga goal of the season. After being pegged back by their rivals, Barcelona thought that they had retaken the lead when Yamal flicked a corner towards goal.
With no goalline technology in LaLiga, it was left up to the VAR room to determine whether Yamal’s effort had crossed the line. Following a number of inconclusive replays, the officials decided not to award a goal to the relief of the hosts and the frustration of the visitors.
Barcelona experienced more disappointment when a visibly-upset Frenkie de Jong was stretchered off on the stroke of half time. After going into the break on level terms, the two sides made a cautious start to the second period, before the game burst back into life when Barcelona moved back in front in the 69th minute.
Yamal’s dangerous ball into the box was parried into the path of Fermin, who tucked it home to net his fourth league goal of the season. Similar to the first half, Real Madrid produced a defiant response to restore parity just three minutes after Fermin had found the net.
Vinicius’s driven cross found its way to the far post for Vazquez to send a composed finish past the helpless Ter Stegen. After helping his side pull level, Vinicius looked set to give them the lead when he raced through on goal, only to see his effort kept out by Ter Stegen at the near post.
While a point would have satisfied Real Madrid, they ultimately finished the evening with all three thanks to Bellingham’s 17th league goal of the season. After scoring the winner in the reverse fixture, the England international repeated the feat in the first minute of stoppage time.
Bellingham arrived at the back post to meet Vazquez’s low cross and rifle the ball into the roof of the net to clinch the spoils and condemn Xavi to defeat in his final Clasico before leaving Barcelona at the end of the campaign. As a result of the victory, Real Madrid are now on the verge of winning the league title for the third time in five seasons.
With Girona trailing them by just two points in third place, the defending champions will now concentrate their efforts on taking second place. Next weekend, Real Madrid will travel to San Sebastian to take on Real Sociedad in a difficult match, while on April 29, Barcelona will host Valencia.
