Real Madrid’s Benzema and Valverde set up deserved win over Barcelona

Just when Barcelona thought there was a little life left in this game and in them too, Rodrygo slipped in the knife. With Barça 2-1 down and heading into the final minute chasing an equaliser that had seemed so implausible for so long, Xavi Hernández’s team were caught again, complicit in their own demise as they had been all afternoon.

First‑half goals from Karim Benzema and Fede Valverde seemed to have ended this early, Madrid easing to victory, until a Ferran Torres late strike gave the Catalans a chance, only for Eric Garcia’s even later tackle to take it away.

Garcia’s trip on Rodrygo had to be revised by the VAR but the referee, Sánchez Martinez, pointed to the spot from where the Brazilian brought the clásico to a close. It had finished with a Real Madrid victory that took them above their rivals to the top, which was no real surprise; the surprise was that it even reached the point where that was in doubt, the closing stages seeing a rebellion from a Barcelona team that had looked defeated. It also saw nerves from home supporters who had spent much of the match sitting comfortably.

On an afternoon in which Madrid never seemed in a hurry, they were ahead early when Toni Kroos strode from deep, not sprinting exactly but quick enough, not least because his pursuer was Sergi Busquets. Following from behind, Barcelona’s captain dragged at Kroos, trying and failing to pull him down before he could release Vinícius into the huge space behind Sergi Roberto. Vinícius ran free and, although Marc Andre ter Stegen made the save, the ball ran free for Benzema. Four Barcelona defenders were arriving, populating the line; the Frenchman beat them all. It looked easy, and not for the last time.

At that stage Barcelona could not get the ball as often as they would like, as often, one suspected, as Madrid would have liked either. Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that the plan had been to draw them in and then run past, and it worked. When Barcelona did take the ball, a move on 20 minutes offered a portrait of their impotence, keeping possession, playing timidly with no real intent. Madrid dropped and waited. Walked, even. Barcelona progressed to a point, then turned round and went back again, the men in white watching them go, standing there as if to ask is that all you have?

Xavi claimed his team had played well in the first half but too often the answer was: yeah, pretty much. Robert Lewandowski slid in and somehow shot over from a single yard but mostly it was just too slow, spaces that should have been occupied simply lying vacant. There was no incision, no vision, just vulnerability. If Barcelona were closer to Madrid’s goal, that was where Madrid wanted them and so the second came.

It began with neat footwork from Benzema and continued with a clipped ball. Eric Garcia leapt presumably to clear but sent it looping on towards his goal. Vinícius was surging into space while the rest ran to join him. He rolled it under his studs to Aurélien Tchouaméni. On to Ferland Mendy. And back in to Valverde, on the edge of the area with no one there to bother him. Taking his time, treating it almost like a penalty, he chose a corner, side-footing hard past ter Stegen.

Almost from the kick off Frenkie De Jong ran through, denied by Andriy Lunin but, if that might have awoken Barcelona, and much as the increasingly frustrated Lewandowski offered himself, Madrid were comfortable. They seemed aware that they did not really need much more, although they could have done without the linesman’s flag denying Benzema the third. Again, it had been simple, into space.

Ancelotti said his team had “put their foot on the accelerator to the very end” but, if there was a flaw from his side, perhaps it was that they did not move in for more against an opponent that was not their equal and could have suffered more damage. Still, they enjoyed the oles. Kroos, Modric, Valverde and Tchouaméni had this, it seemed clear.

And that may have been the risk. For Barcelona Ousmane Dembélé kept running but mostly into trouble. And when Lewandowski headed goalwards all it got was ironic oohs from the Bernabéu. Something was shifting, though: not long after that Lewandowski hit a free-kick straight into the wall, then felt he should have had a penalty when Dani Carvajal bundled him over, and soon Tchouaméni had to step in to stop him. Next Ansu Fati struck wide. His introduction, like that of Ferran and especially Gavi, brought a rebellion. Gavi’s challenge and he alone seemed to make them set Ansu away to set up Ferran to score and give this game a finish few expected but ultimately a winner that everyone had.