After a few days of build up, El Clasico finally arrived.
It was the rejuvenated Barca, against a consistently dominant Madrid side that had everything going right for them.
The result?
A complete annihilation of Madrid from Xavi’s red hot Barca side.
First half
The first half began with some chances that were provided by both sides.
Rodrygo kicked the action off. Federico Valverde of Real Madrid found the streaking Rodrygo on the right flank. The Brazilian then fired a right footed shot, but it harmlessly went wide of the post.
Valverde continued where Rodrygo left off. After Vinicius Jr. put a few moves on Ronald Araujo, he cut it back, and found a streaking Valverde at the edge of Barca’s penalty area.
Valverde then opened up his body, tried to locate the bottom right corner of the net, but Ter Stegen knocked it away with his left hand.
After that though, Barca found their stride and began to make their mark on this highly important match.
Pedri was once again the leading man for the Barca attack. Lofting gorgeous balls over the top, retaining possession in key areas of the field, he was simply a force in the midfield.
His performance made you realize why Xavi was so excited about his progress and potential on the pitch.
But on Barca’s first goal, it wasn’t Pedri who dished out a delicious looking assist or scored a cheeky goal. Barca’s first goal indeed came from the combination of Ousmane Dembele and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, a duo that has resembled one that can threaten any opposing defensive back line.
Dembele and Aubameyang combine to make magic
Dembele found a ball on the right flank, put on a few moves, then used his pace to dash by Nacho. He then lobbed a good looking cross towards Aubameyang, who powered a header in past Courtois.
1-0 Barca.
What proceeded after Aubameyang’s opening tally was nothing short of domination by Barca.
Aubameyang found a chance to score his second of the game just moments later. But a Courtois save denied the former Arsenal man a second chance at glory.
Next came another chance, and this time, Barca made sure to convert.
On an ensuing corner kick, Araujo proceeded to put his name on the scoresheet. The Uruguayan leaped high to get a hit at it, and he then fired a powerful header past Courtois to double Barca’s lead.
2-0 Barca.
At that moment in time, we didn’t believe what we were seeing. Barca had Madrid scrambling at each and every turn. It was a remarkable sight, one we just didn’t expect to witness at all.
However, once the second half began, it was clear what we were watching wasn’t a dream. It was pure, warm blooded reality.
Second half
The second half is when we truly saw Barca take a hold of this match.
Immediately after the second half kickoff, Barca began to flood Madrid with chance after chance after chance.
The first came from Ferran Torres, who found himself one on one with Courtois inside 46 minutes. Torres however wasted his opportunity, as his right footed shot sailed well wide of the post.
The shot brought Torres’ finishing into question again, a topic that’s been a heavy topic of discussion around Torres ever since he arrived in Barcelona in January.
But he soon got a chance to redeem himself.
Ferran Torres strikes
Just over a minute later, Torres scored after a very nice pass from Aubameyang.
Aubameyang flicked the ball with the back of his heel, and left Torres with another easy one on one opportunity with Courtois. Torres then slotted it home and gave Barca their third goal of the match.
3-0 Barca.
At that point, the message became clear. Barca was blizting Madrid with a heavy assault, and Madrid just didn’t have the capacity to strike back nor defend themselves.
That statement was made even more clearer just four minutes later, as Aubameyang hushed the crowd of the Bernabeu for good.
Aubameyang makes it four
After Torres controlled a beautiful long ball, he softly laid a pass out for Aubameyang. Aubameyang then sprinted to cover ground, take control of the ball, and lift a cheeky chip over Courtois to make it 4.
4-0 Barca.
Once the fourth for Barca went pass, the match turned into one that saw Barca try to control possession, while fending off any last minute attacks from Madrid.
The final score line remained 4-0, as Barca finally won an El Clasico, and give the fanbase a plethora of confidence moving forward.
Final word
What a win for Barca.
After a month and a half of glorious form, Barca was going to be put to the test against their most dangerous opponent yet.
And all Barca did, was put four goals past a Madrid side that hadn’t lost a single La Liga home match to date.
This was domination, cold blooded, an absolute clinic from a Barca side that’s fought tooth and nail to reverse the past trajectory of the club..
What a win, wow, what a win.
After Madrid, the next match of Barcelona
Barca’s next match is on April 3rd against Sevilla after the international break.
See you all then!
