Impressive Madrid beats Barcelona 2-1 to go top in Spain

MADRID

Keeping Lionel Messi in restraint again in what could end up to be his last Spanish league clásico, Real Madrid continued the impressive run which has put it at the guts of the title race.


Four days after beating Liverpool within the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday to return to the highest in Spain.


“We need to enjoy what we've been doing. We got two excellent results and it wasn't easy,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Being within the lead won't change anything for us. we've to stay working hard.”


The victory in pouring rain within the Madrid left Madrid tied on points with Atlético Madrid, which on Sunday can return to the highest when it visits sixth-place Real Betis. Madrid is before its city rival on the head-to-head tiebreaker.


Barcelona, which had been unbeaten in 19 straight league games, stayed one point off the lead.

The 33-year-old Messi, who reached seven straight clásicos without a goal, has his contract with Barcelona ending this season. The Argentina star expressed his desire to go away to the Catalan club last year but had the request denied.


Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos scored first-half goals to offer Madrid its sixth straight win altogether competitions. The defending league champions were coming off a 3-1 convert Liverpool within the Champions League on Tuesday.


“It was a really important victory for us,” Madrid defender Nacho Fernández said after the Barcelona match. “It’s always special to win a clásico, and even more once we are so approximate at the highest within the fight for the title. you'll say today was a final, but there's still tons left within the league.”


Barcelona got on the board within the last half with a goal by Óscar Mingueza. It nearly equalized with an attempt from young substitute Ilaix Moriba that struck the crossbar within the final play of the match.


“We tried until the top but it wasn’t possible. We almost had it therein final play,” Barcelona’s Sergi Roberto said. “We trusted our results had we won, but now we'd like to hope that our rivals stumble. we'll keep fighting until the very end.”

This was the primary time Madrid has taken the league leaders since the first rounds of the competition, and it trailed Atlético by 11 points at one stage.

The result ended Barcelona’s six-match streak within the league. It had won nine away matches during a row within the competition.


It was a good start at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium in Madrid’s training center, but the hosts opened the scoring within the 13th minute with Benzema’s superb flicked shot from close range after a coffee cross by Lucas Vázquez.


The French striker, who has scored 10 goals in his last nine matches, came in front of Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo and flicked the ball toward the internet together with his back foot. He hadn’t scored against Barcelona in nine consecutive clásicos.


The Catalan club complained of a foul by Vázquez on Messi just moments before the opening goal.

Kroos added to the lead within the 28th from a place kick following a foul on Vinícius Júnior, who was coming off an impressive performance in Madrid’s convert Liverpool. Kroos shot from just outside the world and therefore the ball was deflected by American defender Sergiño Dest before going into the internet.


Madrid almost added to the lead within the 34th when Federico Valverde hit the post after a breakaway led by Vinícius Júnior, who also hit the post within the last half. That was after Barcelona pulled one back within the 60th with an attempt from inside the world by Mingueza after a coffee cross by Jordi Alba.


Madrid played the ultimate minutes a person down after Casemiro was sent off with a second yellow card.


One of Messi's best chances was with a free-kick that curled across the world and hit Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ far post in first-half stoppage time. Messi’s place kick in second-half stoppage time was easily stopped by Courtois.


The visitors complained about being denied a penalty within the final minutes, with Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman saying it had been “a clear penalty.”



“I do not know why there's VAR in Spain,” he said.


Madrid got the win despite a depleted defense — with the absence of central defenders Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos. Barcelona was without the injured Gerard Piqué.


Right-back Vázquez, who has been key for Madrid in recent games, had to get replaced thanks to an injury before halftime.


Barcelona’s next match is that the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, while Madrid travels to England to play Liverpool again within the Champions League on Wednesday.


CALA PLAYS



Juan Cala, who last weekend was accused of racially insulting Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby, played from the beginning in Cádiz’s 1-0 win at Getafe.


Cala denied any wrongdoing and therefore the Spanish league said Friday it had not found evidence to support Diakhaby’s accusation against the Cádiz player.


OTHER RESULTS


Athletic Bilbao was held 0-0 reception by second-to-last Alavés to increase its winless streak to 5 matches altogether competitions. The winless run of last-place Eibar reached 14 matches after a 1-0 home loss to eighth-place Levante