Real Madrid goes top of La Liga after defeating Barcelona in thrilling rain-soaked ‘El Clasico’.
Byline By- Vinayak Heliwal
Real Madrid continued its impressive run on Saturday, going top of the Spanish League with a 2-1 win over Barcelona in an entertaining, rain-soaked ‘Clasico’ to stretch their winning run to six games.
Real Madrid moves to the top of La Liga Points Table for the First time in three months.Goals from Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos gave Zinedine Zidane’s men the second El Clasico win of the season.
Real Madrid managed to keep Lionel Messi quiet once again as the Barcelona superstar has gone seven straight Clasicos without a goal.
Though Oscar Mingueza scored for Barcelona at the hour mark but the Catalan Club ended up on the losing side despite several close opportunities in the final few minutes.
For the Real Madrid, Karim Benzema put the champions in charge in a soggy Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium with a delightful backheel in the 14th minute while a deflected Toni Kroos free-kick doubled their lead in the 28th minute.
The hosts Real Madrid survived the nail-biting finish to complete the double over Barca in a league season for the first time since 2008 and round off a sensational week after beating Liverpool 3-1 in a Champions League quarter-final leg on Tuesday.
The result ended Barcelona’s six-match winning streak in the league. The 33-year-old Messi who reached seven straight Clasicos without a goal, has his contract with Barcelona ending this season.
Zinedine Zidane’s side now joined Atletico Madrid on 66 points and move to the top of the table although Atletico can reclaim first place when they visit Real Betis on Sunday.
Madrid played Superbly despite a depleted defense with the absences of central defenders Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos while Barcelona was without the injured General Pique.
For the unversed Barcelona’s next match is the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao while Madrid travels to England to Play Liverpool again in the Champions League on Wednesday.