Record La liga winners Real Madrid shove off recent two successive defeats to beat bitterest rivals FC Barcelona by 3-1 in the first leg of the 2020/21 El Clasico inside Camp Nou behind closed doors.
Federico Valverde fired the White Angels into the lead 5 minutes inside the first half from Karim Benzema’s assisting pass. The joy in the Madrid fans became short lived as 17-year old Ansu Fati levelled the score from Jordi Alba’s cross, becoming the youngest goalscorer in El Clasico history.
The first 45 minutes ended in a 1-1 stalemate, but the efficient Los Blancos proved too strong for the Ronald Koeman led Barcelona in the second half, scoring two more goals to put the damage beyond the Blaugrana’s control.
Real Madrid’s evergreen captain Sergio Ramos was fouled in the box by Barcelona’s Clement Lenglet, resulting in a penalty for the Zidane’s side. Ramos made no mistake as he stepped up again to score from the penalty spot to restore the lead for Real Madrid.
Midfield general Luca Modric climbed off the bench to score a third to seal a 3-1 win for Real Madrid inside the Camp Nou. This was Ronald Koeman’s first El Clasico match as a manager for Barcelona, but Zinedine Zidane’s dominance encounters between the two Spanish giants made it impossible for the Dutch man to smile at the end of proceedings.
The win for the Whites has pushed Barcelona to 10th position on the league table with 7 points (with a game in hand), while their rivals sit at the summit with 13 points in 6 matches.