Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Lewandowski at the double in resounding Clasico win

Barcelona crushed rivals Real Madrid 4-0 in the first Clasico of the season to move six points clear at the top of LaLiga and halt Los Blancos’ year-long unbeaten run.

Madrid entered Saturday’s game hoping to equal the longest unbeaten run in LaLiga history – a streak of 43 games set by Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona between 2017 and 2018.

However, they were blown away in front of a stunned Santiago Bernabeu crowd as Robert Lewandowski scored twice in two second-half minutes, with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha later joining him on the scoresheet.

While Carlo Ancelotti’s side slumped to their first league defeat since September 2023, Hansi Flick’s Barca made a statement regarding their title aspirations, recording their 10th win in 11 games this campaign.

FT: #ELCLÁSICO 0-4

A statement win from Hansi Flick’s side. #LALIGAEASPORTS pic.twitter.com/qhKVXBDdmz

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) October 26, 2024

Madrid were on the front foot early on, though they were continually caught out by Barcelona’s offside trap. Mbappe dragged one shot wide after going too early, then saw another shot clawed off the line by Inaki Pena before the flag went up again.

Mbappe broke clear to chip Pena on the half-hour mark, but his celebrations were short-lived as the flag went up once more.

The momentum switched after half-time, though, and Barca made the breakthrough nine minutes after the restart as Lewandowski took in Marc Casado’s pass before finishing low from the edge of the area.

Lewandowski had his second just over two minutes later, directing a wonderful header into the bottom-right corner after being picked out by Alejandro Balde.

Madrid desperately sought a response as Pena denied Mbappe with a one-on-one save, while Lewandowski missed two golden chances for a hat-trick, clipping the post with the goal gaping then blazing over from a tight angle.

But Barca did get their third when Raphinha sent Yamal racing into the box and the 17-year-old lashed his shot inside Lunin’s near post.

And things got even better with six minutes to play as Raphinha got in on the act, dinking a shot over Lunin after latching onto Inigo Martinez’s searching pass.

A sky full of stars

Ahead of Saturday’s game, each of Barca’s last five head coaches had lost their first match in charge against Madrid (Xavi, Ronald Koeman, Quique Setien, Valverde and Luis Enrique), since Gerardo Martino oversaw a 2-1 win in his first Clasico in 2013.

However, Flick bucked that trend as Barca made it a perfect week, having also routed their boss’ former club Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Lewandowski dragged them clear with his quickfire double, and he now has 10 goals in 16 career games against Madrid in all competitions, though these were his first strikes against them in LaLiga.

Yamal and Raphinha then added some gloss to the scoreline. The latter is one of just three players to register at least five goals and five assists in one of Europe’s top five leagues this campaign (six goals, six assists).

The match stats were all in Barca’s favour, painting the picture of a dominant display. The visitors had 15 shots to Madrid’s nine, got seven of those on target and accumulated 2.45 expected goals (xG) to Los Blancos’ 1.48.

Donning their Coldplay-sponsored kits, it really was a sensational Clasico display from Barca, who face Espanyol next as they bid to put further distance between themselves and the chasing pack.

Madrid caught out as unbeaten run ends

Having gone 42 games unbeaten in LaLiga since a 3-1 defeat to rivals Atletico Madrid last year, Madrid were chasing a slice of Spanish top-flight history on Saturday.

With bottom club Valencia up next for Ancelotti’s men, this felt like the final real obstacle between them and the outright record unbeaten run in LaLiga.

However, just like Bayern in midweek, Madrid continually struggled to spring Barcelona’s aggressive offside trap, with Flick’s bold out-of-possession approach paying off again.

Madrid were caught offside eight times in the first half – their joint most on record (since 2003-04) in a single LaLiga match, equalling their tally against Celta Vigo in March 2013.

Mbappe alone was caught offside eight times, the most by any player in a single game in Europe’s top five leagues since Karim Benzema against Eibar in November 2018.