Barcelona lived once more a magical night in its beloved stadium in terms of brilliant victories in the glory years that brought back a new idea to coach Xavi, who led his team to defeat Real Madrid in his stronghold with a historic quadruple that was recorded within 51 minutes, which did not happen in the history of the two teams’ meetings, at this time in the recording .
Barcelona defeated its traditional rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital in the twenty-ninth stage of the Spanish Football Championship.
With this result, Barcelona climbed to third place with 54 points, equal to Atletico Madrid, who beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0, with a match postponed with Rayo Vallecano, where the Catalan team can climb to second place if it wins equally with runner-up Seville.
Barcelona advanced with two goals in the first half, signed by Gabonese Pierre Emeric Aubameyang (29) and Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo (38), with two headers and two passes from French winger Osman Dembele.
The Catalan team settled the result in his favour, with two quick goals at the beginning of the second half, when he added Ferran Torres III (49), Aubameyang IV and his personal second (53).
Immediately following the match, veteran Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, who was wonderful in the meeting, wrote on his Twitter page, “We are back.”
The victory was the first for Barcelona once morest its traditional rival following 5 defeats in a row once morest it, in the first Clasico in the league for its new coach and legend Xavi Hernandez, who received his training last November.
It is the third meeting between Real and Barcelona this season, and the capital club won the previous two times, in the “Camp Nou” 2-1 in the tenth stage on October 24, and 3-2 in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Jeddah on January 22.
Barcelona put an end to the superiority of Real, who had won the last five confrontations between them, to equal the series of the latter’s coach, Pep Guardiola (2008-2011), while Real’s attempt to approach the record was stopped with 7 victories achieved by the capital club between 1962 and 1965.
Real fell in the fortress of the “Santiago Bernabeu” stadium, where he suffered his first loss this season, collecting 34 points out of 45 possible from 10 victories and 4 draws once morest Villarreal, Osasuna and Cadiz, with a negative score and Elche 2-2 and a defeat.
For his part, Barcelona has not tasted a loss since last December 4, when it fell at home to Real Betis 0-1 in the sixteenth stage, achieving a series of 9 wins once morest 4 draws and continued to maintain its unbeaten record in 2022.
The Royal Club played El Clasico in the absence of its brilliant French striker Karim Benzema, the leader of the two goals in La Liga, with 22 goals and 11 assists in 25 games, due to an injury to his left calf once morest Mallorca in the last stage. His compatriot Ferland Mendy was also absent due to an injury to the left adductor.
Xavi hit striker Dembele to the right, with Gabonese Aubameyang in the lead and Torres on the left. Meanwhile, the brilliant midfielder led Pedri in the 2-1 victory over Galatasaray in the second leg of the European League “European League” (a draw in the first leg).
Double for Aubameyang
Real started the first half pressing, threatening the Barcelona goal with a shot from Valverde following a back pass from Vinicius Junior was blocked by German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen (7), before his Belgian counterpart Thibaut Courtois starred in the three woods by stopping him twice in a row in one minute (12) for a first shot. From Aubameyang and a second from Dembele.
The Blaugrana quickly opened the scoring following a single effort by Dembele on the right side, manipulating captain Nacho Fernandes and passing a cross that Aubameyang followed with a header following he advanced over Brazilian defender Eder Militao to the right of goalkeeper Courtois (29).
Courtois saved his team once more following blocking Aubameyang’s shot following a pass from Dutchman Frenkie de Jong, before Vinicius Junior was singled out following a deep pass from Modric with goalkeeper Ter Stegen, who succeeded in extracting the ball from between the feet of the Brazilian (36).
Barcelona added the second in the second crucial pass from Dembele following a corner kick taken and followed by Uruguayan defender Araujo in front of Austrian David Alaba, header to the left of the goalkeeper (38).
Italian Carlo Ancelotti tried to strengthen his defense line, he took out defender Daniel Carvajal following the break and entered striker Mariano Diaz from the Dominican Republic and replaced Kroos with Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga in the middle, but Barcelona stunned his host with a third goal following a joint game between Dembele and De Jong to Aubameyang inside the area, passed it to Torres and shot it Directly in the goal (47), before the Gabonese added the fourth to his team and the second personal to him following a pass from Torres, penetrating the area and poking the ball over Courtois, who came out of his own goal, while the fans of the Bernabeu stadium waited for the video assistant referee (VAR) to confirm the validity of the match. The goal and the increase in her suffering (53), in his ninth goal this season in his 11th match with his new shirt.
According to the “Opta” statistics network, Aubameyang became the first player to contribute to 3 goals (scored 2 and made a goal) during his first Clasico match in all competitions in the 21st century.
Aubameyang moved to Barcelona last January, coming from Arsenal, following he terminated his contract with the London club.
It is noteworthy that Aubameyang scored in the last five matches he played once morest Real Madrid (he scored 7 goals).
Thus, Aubameyang became the first player to score in 5 consecutive matches once morest Meringue, in the twenty-first century, during the League and the Champions League.
In a desperate attempt, Ancelotti pushed Marco Asensio and Lucas Vasques in the middle instead of Rodrigo and Nacho (63), while Xavi responded by taking out Aubameyang, who almost scored a hat-trick in the 58th minute, but arrived late to follow a cross pass, De Jong and the introduction of Dutch striker Memphis Depay, who hit the ball A dangerous challenge was stopped by Tiboa following 9 minutes of entering, Gavi (71), and Dembele, who was replaced by Adama Troare (80).
Barcelona might have come out with a bigger mule if he might take advantage of the opportunities that came to him, while Real played one of its worst matches this season.
After slipping to ninth in the standings when Ronald Koeman was sacked in October, Barcelona has been revived under Xavi.
Barcelona has not suffered any defeat in all competitions since losing following extra time to Athletic Bilbao in the King’s Cup on January 20, scoring 24 goals in the last seven matches in the league.
legend tribute
Xavi praised the courage and personality of his players, and said following the match: “I am happy and satisfied with everything, and we had the character and courage, and I asked the players not to lose the balls, and we controlled the game, and we can compete in this way.”
He added: “Maybe we can say that we are back, it is a day to enjoy and celebrate, and in the recent past we did not have many joys, we competed once morest Real Madrid at their stadium, and it was a great match, we might have scored more goals, and we played much better than them.”
He continued, “I do not have to evaluate anything, I am proud and happy and Barcelona supporters should enjoy it, and we told ourselves this path and the project that we must continue, and we can compete with any opponent.”
And he continued, “Today’s match can be compared to a match (6-2), we excelled in goals and the match, and we leave with a wide smile.”
For his part, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti expressed his dissatisfaction with the loss, and said: “We were looking for more control of the ball and more pressure, but following the first goal our plan did not work and they harmed us.”
He added, “We started playing, but it wasn’t our night, and we feel sorry for the fans, and we have to look forward, and we tried to go higher and it didn’t work out, it’s my fault.”
He continued, “It is difficult because it is the El Clasico match, and the loss once morest Barcelona is painful, and we have to be calm, and we are sorry for what happened.”
“Everything went wrong, and I told the players that what happened was my fault.”
praise
The impressive victory found great praise from the Spanish and international newspapers, and the Catalan newspaper “Sport” titled: “Barcelona insults Real Madrid and settles the Clasico.”
The newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” praised Barcelona’s victory, and its coverage of the match titled, “Barcelona won the Santiago Bernabeu while walking,” referring to the easy victory.
As for the Madridista newspapers, they recognized Barcelona’s absolute advantage in the match, and “Marca” newspaper said that Barcelona held a festival in the heart of the Santiago Bernabeu.
The newspaper “AS” attacked the decisions of the Italian coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, and said that Xavi and his players danced as they wanted in the Clasico, and the Royal Club paid the price for his coach’s mistakes, and on the other hand, praised the Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who saved his club from a great and historic loss.
She also wrote: Barcelona destroys the worst Real Madrid and hopes in the league.