Real Madrid defeats Barcelona 2–1 and wins a controversy-filled Clásico

(AFP) Leaders Real Madrid took the first high-voltage Clasico of the season on Sunday, beating FC Barcelona 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Matchday 10 of LaLiga.

French striker Kylian Mbappé ('22) opened the scoring, a goal countered by Fermín López ('38), but England's Jude Bellingham ('43) eventually settled the victory on the white side.

"This match will be good for us to grow," said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso at a press conference, before insisting that we must maintain our concentration.

In an atmosphere of maximum tension, the stands heated up with a noisy whistle for Lamine Yamal chen his name was heard over the PA system due to the Culé attacker's recent statements about the white club in which he accused them of "stealing" and recalled his past victories and goals against Real Madrid.

Then the atmosphere continued to heat up due to VAR interpretations, which disallowed a penalty on Vinicius (3') and a goal by Mbappé (12') for offside.

In the first of these actions, Yamal put a foot in that ended up being hit by the Brazilian's foot. In the second, the Welsh star found himself inches ahead.

In a moment of relaxation on the part of both teams, England's Jude Bellingham found space to filter a pass behind the Barça center backs, whichMbappé executed in the 22nd to perfection to put the first goal on the scoreboard.

The madridistas were euphoric to the point that Dean Huijsen even missed a clear chance after heading from close range, but Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny prevented it.

The capital team gradually gave the ball away until Fermin took advantage of a mistake by Turkey's Arda Güler at the start: Pedri snatched the ball to give it to England's Marcus Rashford, who cut inside from the left and connected with Fermin (38'), who tied the match.

However, Madrid's slump was short-lived. In a cross to the far post from Vinicius to his compatriot Eder Militao, the ball ended up with Bellingham who was all alone to make it 2-1 in the 43rd minute.

Vinicius' anger and a tangana

After the restart, Bellingham, very active in attacking duties, penetrated towards the area to cross a ball, which Eric Garcia deflected in the first instance, but the Blaugrana defender ended up touching it with his hand after another rebound from the Briton.

The VAR alerted the referee, who awarded the penalty, only this time the trajectory of Mbappé's strike was guessed by Szczesny, who excelled with his save.

With 18 minutes left on the clock, Alonso decided to swap Vinicius for Rodrygo, prompting monumental anger, who went straight to the dressing room.

In the final stretch, Barcelona tried unsuccessfully to create chances, thanks to the tight defense of a team that celebrated the victory as if they had won a competition.

The high tension led to a brawl at the end, first in the dugouts, which forced the security officials to intervene and then in the middle of the field, proving that Real Madrid-Barça duels always spark.

"I interpret the tension very normally and there is no need to read too much into it," said Alonso.

Whistles for Yamal

Movistar+ footage shows Vinicius approaching Yamal with a gesture in which he comments, "Speak now".

"When he whistled the final whistle many have gone towards Lamine. I think it's a bit over the top," said Frenkie De Jong at the end of the match.

Marcus Sorg, who led his team through Hansi Flick's one-match ban, felt that "it may be that Yamal has been affected" by an energetic crowd against him.

"He is learning to deal with the crowd, the whistles (...) It is true that he is normally very motivated and today it was not very easy for him," he asserted.

Tchouameni, for his part, clarified that there is no bad intention in Yamal's words: "It motivates us a little bit more. If Lamine wants to talk there is no problem. The game is played on the pitch.