Real Madrid vs. Barcelona result, highlights and analysis as Benzema, Valverde secure El Clasico victory over Xavi and Barca

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Real Madrid welcomed Barcelona to the Bernabeu with plenty to lose at the top of the La Liga table, but Los Blancos emerged with all to gain as goals from Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde, and Rodrigo secured a 3-1 victory.

Instead, it’s Barcelona who leave Madrid with yet another black eye, following the midweek Champions League calamity that likely sees them out of Europe’s top competition. Xavi’s sorrows are compounded after suffering through similar defensive mistakes to the ones made against Inter just days prior.

With the victory, Real Madrid take control of the La Liga title race, moving three points clear at the top of the standings. Barcelona are passed, only in the lead on goal differential before kickoff at the Bernabeu.

Karim Benzema was the first on the scene for Madrid, bagging the opener just 12 minutes in. He made way for others in the team, as big-game star Federico Valverde doubled the lead past the half-hour mark with a solid long-range strike.

After halftime, Barcelona pushed hard to get back in the game, and Real Madrid hung on until Ferran Torres brought the visitors back within one after great work from Ansu Fati. Yet it was not to be, as Real Madrid ran to victory as Rodrygo deposited a dubious penalty in stoppage time to secure the points.

 MORE: Barcelona on the cusp of elimination after Champions League slip at Camp Nou

The Sporting News followed the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona match live providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happened.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona final score

  1H 2H Final
Real Madrid 2 1 3
Barcelona 0 1 1

Goals:
12th min — RMA — Karim Benzema
35th min — RMA — Federico Valverde
83rd min — BAR — Ferran Torres
90+1 min — RMA — Rodrygo (pen)

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona post-match analysis

Toni Kroos, Luka Modric run midfield in El Clasico

The two midfield stars for Real Madrid were yet again showing their ageless beauty as they completely ran Barcelona’s midfield off the pitch.

Toni Kroos was instrumental in the opening goal, somehow managing to deliver a pinpoint through-ball while being dragged back by a helpless Sergio Busquets. He finished 49-of-55 passing, including 6-of-8 on long balls and 8-of-13 on ground duels. Luka Modric, meanwhile, was similarly influential despite a slightly lower volume of on-ball chances. He finished a fabulous 33-of-34 passing, including 2-of-2 on long balls.

Both were critical to Real Madrid controlling the game, forcing Busquets, Pedri, and de Jong to chase and keeping Barcelona’s chances to a minimum, especially in the first half.

Barcelona continue to make same defensive mistakes

Xavi has a lot of work to do to organize his injury-riddled defense. Barcelona’s back line, anchored by Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia in the middle, were undone by the same mistakes over and over again.

Real Madrid carved Barcelona to shreds with vertical through-balls that broke the defensive line and found runners who snuck in behind the full-backs. Kroos and Modric both created multiple chances via this method, continually unlocking the Barcelona defense.

The Blaugrana, who had conceded just a single La Liga goal coming into Sunday, were undone on multiple occasions in this manner. Missing Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Hector Bellerin due to injuries, Xavi will have to crack on with Garcia, Kounde, and Gerard Pique and help them to play better than they have the last week.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona live updates, highlights from El Clasico

FULL-TIME: Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona

The final scoreline flatters Madrid a bit, but they won’t care as Carlo Ancelotti secures the three points at home in El Clasico. It’s a fair result, as Madrid were dominant throughout the first half and held on down the stretch, buoyed by the late Rodrygo penalty.

Barcelona, meanwhile, suffer a double blow after the midweek Champions League disappointment to Inter. Xavi has a lot of work to do, conceding a host of chances resulting from similar mistakes being repeated on multiple occasions.

90th min: Penalty, Real Madrid! There’s a VAR check here for a penalty, with Rodrygo going down in the penalty area. Replay shows very little contact with Eric Garcia, but there is some contact. The referee goes to the monitor, and a penalty is given! It’s SO soft as Rodrygo had already gone over the ball, and there’s a shout for offside on the delivery from Valverde as well, but the referee points to the spot.

GOAL! REAL MADRID! Rodrygo steps up and delivers from the spot to put Madrid through with all three points! Ter Stegen chose correctly, but couldn’t reach it. Sergi Roberto gets a yellow card for dissent in the aftermath.

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87th min: Chance, Barcelona! Madrid are hanging on by a thread! Sergi Roberto comes flying in to meet a de Jong delivery with his head, and it’s blocked, but Ansu Fati produces a stunning scissor kick that very nearly levels the match. Lunin was caught out of position, and he could only watch as the ball bobbled inches wide of the post.

A nervy let-off for Madrid, who react by bringing on a masked Antonio Rudiger, with Carvajal coming off.

83rd min: GOAL! BARCELONA! It’s great work by Ansu Fati on the left flank who absolutely sends Eder Militao for a hot dog. He blisters a cross to Ferran Torres at the far post who’s completely unmarked, and he taps into the back of the net. Three Xavi subs combined on that goal, with Gavi winning the ball back in midfield.

Game on! Ancelotti reacts immediately, withdrawing the booked Vinicius, with Rodrygo on in his place.

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81st min: A yellow card shown to Gavi for a thumping tackle, sliding in and sending Tchouameni flying. Franck Kessie comes into the match, replacing young Pedri. Fresh legs for Barcelona as they earn a corner, which is immediately wasted.

78th min: Chance, Barcelona! The visitors are pushing hard for a goal, and Ferran Torres has been bright off the bench. Gavi generates a turnover in the attacking third and sets up Ansu Fati for a shot which stings just wide.

Luka Modric is withdrawn, and it’s Eduardo Camavinga time for Real Madrid. Barcelona will have to buck over 50 years of history to come back and earn something from this match.

74th min: Chance, Barcelona! There’s a big penalty shout as Lewandowski goes down in the box, but no call from the official! The Barcelona striker splits Carvajal and Eder Militao, hitting the deck after lots of jockeying! Replay shows a ton of contact between Carvajal and Lewandowski, but there’s no clear and obvious error for VAR to act. It’s a 50/50 decision from the referee, and Real Madrid get away with it.

Modric gets booked in the aftermath for a hard foul in midfield on Pedri. The official has had to talk Xavi down after his demonstrative protests, but the Barcelona boss does not see a card.

72nd min: A great run by Dembele horizontally across the penalty area wins a dangerous free-kick as he buys a foul by Tchouameni. Lunin sets the Real Madrid wall, as Jordi Alba and Lewandowski stand over the delivery…it’s the Polish striker who takes and he blasts it straight into the middle of the wall.

Straight after, Jordi Alba cuts down Kroos on the break and somehow gets away without a yellow card. Ousmane Dembele is taken off for Ansu Fati, and the Frenchman sulks as he exits, walking straight past Xavi without an acknowledgement as he heads to the bench.

68th min: Great defending by Eric Garcia was required as Modric fed Benzema through on goal. The Barcelona defender marshaled the ball out of play with good strength against the French striker, but at the death Benzema wins a corner.

Troubling, though, that yet another vertical ball through the lines nearly broke the Barcelona defensive structure.

64th min: Vinicius looks to get on the end of a heavy through-ball from Benzema, and the ball runs to the goalkeeper ter Stegen, who takes a painful lump from the Brazilian on his way through. Vinicius has to be careful, as he’s on a yellow from the first half. Wonder if Carlo Ancelotti makes a change soon to prevent a second booking. Ter Stegen looks to be ok eventually, he was holding his hands after that collision.

62nd min: It’s all a bit sloppy from Barcelona as they search for a way back in. Gavi comes barging in out of control, committing a foul in midfield. Earlier, Ousmane Dembele had charged forward on the ball but Vinicius comes in with excellent defending to just muscle the Frenchman off the ball.

57th min: Xavi is readying a host of changes. Looks like Ferran Torres, Gavi, and Jordi Alba will come on, with Busquets, Raphinha, and Alex Balde the ones to be withdrawn.

Ole’s ring around the crowd with Madrid pinging passes around the Barcelona half. The Madridistas are loving this.

52nd min: Chance, Real Madrid! Karim Benzema scores an utterly spectacular goal, bursting into the middle of the attacking third and picking out the far corner past a diving ter Stegen. However, the flag is up for offside, and replay shows Benzema is just leaning by inches on the delivery by Vinicius the left flank.

The goal won’t count, but the Barcelona back line is carved to pieces with just one pass yet again. It’s another cross-field run that does them in, completely unaware of runs off the full-back’s back shoulder, and then nobody closes down the attacker at the top of the 18-yard box. The same mistakes from the first half show up again.

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51st min: It’s been a slow start to the second half, and while Barcelona have had the most possession, it’s Real Madrid with the first half-chance. Benzema finds Kroos with a cut-back, but it’s a difficult chance from range at a tight angle, and the German rifles over the bar.

46th min: We’re under way for the second half. Xavi, already under pressure as Barcelona manager after the Champions League calamity midweek, now has a mountain to climb to get the Blaugrana back in this match. No changes yet from the visiting side as the second half begins.

HALFTIME: Real Madrid 2-0 Barcelona

It’s a shocking first 45 minutes from Xavi’s side. They were second-best on both ends of the pitch, stifled in the attack and torn apart at the back.

Real Madrid’s big-game players have shown up at the Bernabeu. Karim Benzema opened the scoring, and Federico Valverde doubled the lead. Just how Carlo Ancelotti drew it up after playing the game down as “not life or death” in the pre-match buildup. Xavi wanted his players to get back to “having fun” on the pitch, but Madrid are the ones who look to be enjoying their football.

Karim Benzema has a date with the Ballon d’Or tomorrow, but has had one more say on today’s proceedings before heading to Paris for the ceremony.

43rd min: Barcelona venture forward, and they create a headed opportunity in front of goal for Lewandowski, but he’s double-teamed by Militao and Carvajal and is bullied off the aerial chance. This Real Madrid defense has stood tall at every opportunity.

41st min: Just like the immediate aftermath of the first goal, Real Madrid appear energized by Fede Valverde’s strike. They’re putting the Barca defense under oodles of pressure, and Xavi’s side can’t get out of its own half.

35th min: GOAL! REAL MADRID! It’s all coming apart for Barcelona, as Federico Valverde puts Real Madrid 2-0 up! The visitors had a good last 10 minutes, but it all falls to pieces as the in-form Fede Valverde hits a precise strike from outside the top of the box, beating ter Stegen to the inside of the left post with a low effort. It was a bit out of nothing, as it seemed Barcelona has it covered, but nobody stepped out to Valverde, and he smashes it home.

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30th min: There’s the first yellow card of the match, and it’s for dissent as Vinicius Jr thought he was fouled but it’s not given. Moments later, Barcelona are given a foul in midfield and the official emphatically books the Brazilian for his continued protests.

25th min: Chance, Barcelona! How has Lewandowski missed that??? Barcelona have been purring the last few minutes, and a cross from the right flank is a dangerous one, across the face of goal and not dealt with. It squirts through past a sliding de Jong to the far post where Lewandowski comes flying in. He reaches it, but somehow pops it high up in the air and over the bar, with the entire goal gaping.

Replay, however, does show that Lewandowski may have been offside on the chance, meaning it probably would have been ruled out had he scored. Still, a shocking miss from one of the world’s top strikers.

23rd min: The referee stops play for a foul on Busquets by Fede Valverde, coming in late with his studs. No booking yet, however. It’s honestly a bit surprising that no yellow card was shown to Busquets earlier for the foul on Kroos during the build-up to the Madrid goal, as there was a clear drag-back but the referee played advantage.

19th min: Real Madrid have taken full control of this match, and Barcelona look on edge. They’re pinging passes and sliding through-balls, with Barcelona on their heels. The home fans are buzzing.

12th min: GOAL! REAL MADRID! It’s an utterly gorgeous goal, built all the way from the back. Off a speculative Barcelona, the hosts built forward through the length of the pitch. Toni Kroos somehow finds Vinicius Jr down the left despite being yanked back by a helpless Sergio Busquets. The Brazilian’s effort is blocked, but it draws ter Stegen out of the net, and the main man Karim Benzema is there to bag the rebound through traffic.

Benzema ends his five-match goal drought, scoring the 12th El Clasico goal of his glittering career!

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8th min: Chance, Real Madrid! It’s the first chance for Real Madrid to counter now, as Ferland Mendy finds Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian cuts onto his left from a tight angle and lets fly, and the shot takes a deflection, which causes it to bobble agonizingly out for a corner, as both teams can only watch helplessly as the slow-rolling, bouncing ball ends up wide of the post.

A nervy moment for Barcelona, and a bright start to the match on both ends!

7th min: Barcelona with a slick move forward on the counter. Lewandowski finds Dembele streaking down the left who beats Militao, but the Madrid defender recovers and eventually the shot is blocked. Still a solid counter from Barcelona.

5th min: Both teams with a bit of feeling out, and it’s Raphinha who has the first shot of the match, from long distance slightly left of center. It’s easily held by Andriy Lunin, in for the injured Thibaut Courtois.

1st min: Kickoff at the Bernabeu for El Clasico! We’re under way! What a spectacle this match is.

Pre-Match: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona (kickoff at 4:15pm local CEST)

5 mins to kick: Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema have played a combined 49 matches against today’s opponent, with a combined 17 goals. Will either or both add to their tally?

11 mins to kick: Carlo Ancelotti has played this match down as “not life or death,” knowing the season is long and this game “has come early” in the campaign. The league title cannot be won or lost in this match, but it can go a long way towards setting the tone for the coming month leading into the World Cup.

37 mins to kick: Real Madrid fans welcome the Blancos squad to the Bernabeu.

51 mins to kick: Easily the most insane number from this incredible rivalry is that, through 249 matches played between these two sides, including 184 league meetings, the two teams have scored the exact same amount of goals against each other: 295. An incredible representation of the competitive nature between these two teams.

68 mins to kick: For a full preview of today’s El Clasico, here’s a betting preview from The Sporting News as we look ahead at what to expect. A rundown of who will win, who will score, how many corners, and much more! Plenty of stats and analysis ahead of today’s huge match.

81 mins to kick: The Barcelona lineup is out, and the biggest news is that Gavi has been dropped to the bench, replaced by Frenkie de Jong in midfield. It’s a massive opportunity for the Dutch international to prove he belongs in the lineup after being cast aside by Xavi for much of this season so far.

90 mins to kick: Xavi, who will reach 50 matches in charge of Barcelona today, has spoken pre-match about the need to “enjoy” this fixture. With Barcelona likely bounced from the Champions League after the midweek debacle against Inter, the Barcelona boss says being manager of the Catalan club is a “thankless” job, saying that “it’s better to be a player. You enjoy being a player more than a coach.” However, he says “this is a game to enjoy,” so he wants himself and his players to get back to having fun on the pitch.

Xavi is under a lot of pressure at the moment, which seems a bit silly because his management is a big reason why the club was dragged back to winning ways after last year’s catastrophic first half. Still, defeat in this match would see Xavi’s job security teeter on the brink.

101 mins to kick: The Real Madrid lineup is already out, and sure enough Los Blancos are without goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, hero of the Champions League final, who is struggling with a back injury. Andriy Lunin continues in his place. Otherwise, there are few surprises. Eder Militao and David Alaba are the center-backs, with Antonio Rudiger on the bench after his bloody winner against Shakhtar Donetsk midweek.

115 mins to kick: Antonio Rudiger will be wearing a mask for this match to protect the gash that he suffered while scoring the stoppage-time equalizer in the UEFA Champions League. The club posted an inside look on social media of the immediate aftermath, showing how the medical staff handled the situation.

120 mins to kickoff: If you see a different logo on the front of the Barcelona kits, that’s intentional. It’s the owl logo of musical & recording artist Drake. Barcelona’s main kit sponsor Spotify is promoting Drake’s milestone of 50 billion downloads, the first artist to reach that mark on the music streaming platform.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona lineups, team news

The standard starting XI is expected for Real Madrid outside of starting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (back issue), who misses his fifth straight match and will continue to be replaced by his backup Andriy Lunin.

Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao are expected back after being rested in midweek. Antonio Rudiger is reportedly set to start on the bench after suffering a bloody forehead gash on his stoppage-time equalizer against Shakhtar. The German international will be fitted with a custom mask to protect the wound should he enter the game.

Real Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 13-Lunin (GK) — 2-Carvajal, 3-Militao, 4-Alaba, 23-Mendy — 10-Modric, 18-Tchouameni, 8-Kroos — 15-Valverde, 9-Benzema, 20-Vinicius.

Real Madrid subs (12): 26-Lopez (GK), 30-Canizares (GK), 16-Odriozola, 17-Vazquez, 6-Nacho, 5-Vallejo, 22-Rudiger, 12-Camavinga, 11-Asensio, 7-Hazard, 21-Rodrygo, 24-Mariano.

Barcelona have some key injuries at the back: Ronald Araujo (hip) is out, as are Andreas Christensen and Hector Bellerin. But Jules Kounde has recovered from his hamstring injury and is ready to slot in at center-back in place of the struggling Gerard Pique. The talk was that left-back Alex Balde will be moved to right-back to track the speedy Vinicius Jr., although it appears that’s unlikely as Sergi Roberto is in the lineup as a right-back deputy.

While pre-match reports indicated that Gavi would be moved forward into an attacking role, he instead drops to the bench instead, with Frenkie de Jong on in his place. Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha continue in their attacking roles, while fellow forward Memphis Depay will miss out due to injury.

Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 1-Ter Stegen (GK) — 28-Balde, 23-Kounde, 24-Garcia, 20-Roberto — 8-Pedri, 5-Busquets, 21-De Jong — 7-Dembele, 9-Lewandowski, 22-Raphinha.

Barcelona subs (12): 26-Pena (GK), 36-Tenas (GK), 18-Alba, 3-Pique, 20-Roberto, 29-Casado, 19-Kessie, 30-Gavi, 32-Pablo Torre, 10-Fati, 11-Ferran Torres.

MORE: La Liga table & standings, with closer look at title, Champions League, and relegation battles

How to watch Real Madrid vs. Barcelona

  Date Time TV channel Streaming
USA Sun, Oct. 16 10:15 ET ESPN Deportes fuboTV, ESPN+
UK Sun, Oct. 16 15:15 ET Premier Sports 1, LaLigaTV Premier Player
Australia Mon, Oct. 17 01:15 AEST — Optus Sport
Canada Sun, Oct. 16 10:15 ET TSN3 TSN
India Sun, Oct. 16 19:45 ET Sports18 Voot Select
New Zealand Mon, Oct. 17 03:15 NZST Sky Sports 7 beIN Sports beIN Sports Connect
Malaysia Sun, Oct. 16 22:15 MT beIN Sports beIN Sports
Singapore Sun, Oct. 16 22:15 SST beIN Sports beIN Sports, StarHub TV+

UK: Sunday’s massive El Clasico tilt will be shown in the United Kingdom on Premier Sports 1 and LaLigaTV. It can also be streamed via Premier Player.

USA: The match between Real Madrid and Barcelona from the Bernabeu can be seen in the United States on ESPN Deportes, and streamed on ESPN+ along with all other La Liga matches.

ESPN Deportes is also available to stream on fuboTV, and there’s a special offer $40 off on the Latino package quarterly plan through October 16, available for just $59.

Canada: The match will be broadcast in Canada on TSN3, which is also available to stream via the TSN site or app.

Australia: Australia’s exclusive La Liga broadcaster is Optus Sport, who also carries the Premier League.

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