MADRID -- Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham struck in the first half as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday to stretch their lead over their Clásico rivals at the top of LaLiga to five points.
Fermín López had briefly canceled out Mbappé's opener in the 38th minute of an incident-packed game only for Bellingham to net the eventual winner five minutes later as Madrid ended a four-match losing streak against Barça. It could have been more, too, with Wojciech Szczesny saving a second-half penalty from Mbappé, while Madrid also had three goals chalked off for offside.
Barça tried to rally late on but, other than a late Jules Koundé chance that he could not quite control, they never looked like troubling the home side. The game ended in a brawl between players and staff on and off the pitch after Pedri's late red card for a second booking sent temperatures soaring. -- Sam Marsden
Xabi Alonso needed this. There have been plenty of signs of improvement since the coach took over from Carlo Ancelotti in the summer, but in the really high-profile games, Alonso's Real Madrid had fallen short: beaten 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semifinals and 5-2 by Atlético Madrid a month ago in the Madrid derby.
Now, Alonso has his first signature win, and in the game that matters most to Madrid: the Clásico. Last season's quartet of defeats to Barça were the clearest signpost that the Ancelotti era was ending -- it wasn't just that Madrid lost all four, it was the scale of those losses, with an aggregate score of 16-7 -- and Sunday's result, and performance, is a statement of intent.
Madrid played here with intensity, aggression and cohesion, disrupting Barça's buildup as they frequently pressed goalkeeper Szczesny and center backs Pau Cubarsí and Eric García. Alonso's decision to pick an extra midfielder, sacrificing a wide player, worked, as Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga joined Aurélien Tchouaméni and Arda Güler in a 4-4-2 when out of possession.
There are still challenges for Alonso to overcome, notably how to handle Vinícius Júnior, who reacted so vehemently to being substituted in the 72nd minute, in a very public show of dissent. And there were moments when Madrid's defense looked vulnerable, even if Barça struggled to create clear-cut chances.
Overall, this was the first performance -- on the biggest stage -- that Alonso can point to as concrete evidence of real progress, even though he'll insist that they're still just getting started. -- Alex Kirkland
The focus is often on Barça's high line, but if they can't defend seriously, it doesn't matter how far up the pitch the back four place themselves. The defending throughout this game was far too lackluster for a fixture of this intensity.
Alejandro Balde played Mbappé onside for the first goal and Bellingham was left unmarked to tap in the second after Balde had been beaten too easily in the air by Éder Militão. Beyond the goals, Koundé was too passive defending Vinícius one on one, and there are still question marks over the center-back pairing of García, who was unfortunate in giving away the penalty missed by Mbappé, and Cubarsí. It doesn't have the feel of a long-term partnership at this level.