Bellingham fires Real Madrid to victory over Barca in El Clasico
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Barcelona: Real Madrid battled back to win 2-1 at Barcelona in a nervy LaLiga El Clasico on Saturday thanks to a brace by top-scorer Jude Bellingham in the second half.
Barcelona produced a performance full of verve and skill, with midfielder Ilkay Gundogan opening the scoring from close range in the sixth minute by taking advantage of a bad defensive mistake by the visitors.
However, Barca were punished for failing to convert their dominance into goals as Bellingham made the most of the two chances he had in the second half.
First he unleashed an unstoppable strike from range into the upper left corner in the 68th minute and then, in stoppage time, he scored the winner after collecting a Luka Modric pass inside the box.
"Even a draw would be unfair for us after the game we had; they looked like they'd surrendered and then came those disgraceful blows to shock us. It's a shame," Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez told DAZN.
"We dominated for 60 minutes but this is football... Real Madrid have these things... Real Madrid score two goals with the three or two-and-a-half chances they have."
Barca dominated the first half and Gundogan found the ball at his feet for an easy tap-in after Real defender Aurelien Tchouameni passed backwards to centre-back David Alaba who barely reached the ball.
Midfielder Fermin Lopez, who hit the post in the 15th minute, and forward Joao Felix were a constant menace to Real’s defence and created several chances to score, with Real arguably lucky to go into the break only one goal down.
Andreas Christiansen headed on to the post after the break and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga made a brilliant save to deny Barca from a Ronald Araujo close-range strike.
Real started to find their mojo after manager Carlo Ancelotti brought Eduardo Camavinga and Modric off the bench and Bellingham once again shone under the spotlight.
Real are top of the standings on 28 points, level with Girona. Barca are third on 24, two ahead of Atletico Madrid, who have two games in hand.