Bellingham strikes at the death as Madrid down Barca in El Clasico

La Liga

Real Madrid 3-2 FC Barcelona

Jude Bellingham delivered a brutal end to Barcelona’s title hopes as his 91st minute winner for Real Madrid drove a stake through the heart of Xavi Hernandez’s side in a 3-2 classic that also saw Andreas Christensen, Fermin Lopez, Vinicius Jr. and Lucas Vazquez all score on Sunday night.

The opener of the night actually went to Barcelona as the Santiago Bernabeu crowd were stunned into silence. A complete mismatch at the back-post saw Andreas Christensen bully his marker to head home from close range to draw first blood in the tense derby after six minutes.

But Real Madrid soon restored parity through Vinicius Jr. from the penalty spot after Lucas Vazquez was fouled by 17-year-old Pau Cubarsi. Keeping his cool, Vinicius Jr. stepped up and fired into the right side of the goal, beating Marc-Andre ter Stegen who had guessed the right way.

Los Blancos continued to dominate the majority of the proceedings as Barcelona sought to hang on until half-time, with Jude Bellingham, Luka Modric and Vinicius Jr. missing chances to steal the lead.

There was a moment of real controversy from a corner where Barcelona appeared to have sent the ball over the line, however La Liga does not operate goal line technology meaning no conclusive call could be made even by the VAR operator.

Barca were dealt a below before the break when midfielder Frenkie De Jong was carried off on a stretched after suffering an ankle injury. However Barcelona struck in the second half against the run of play.

A tame shot by Lamine Yamal should have been bread and butter for Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin but as a man ran across him to distract him, he panicked and pushed the ball directly to the feet of Fermin Lopez who gratefully tapped into the empty goal from meer yards out to shock the home crowd again in the 69th minute.

But, as they did in the first half, Carlo Ancelotti’s men wasted no time in responding as just four minutes later they made it 2-2. A succulent ball across the face of the six-yard-box was left by Ter Stegen and Vazquez, who gambled at the far post, struck the ball on the half-volley to level in the 73rd minute.

Real Madrid then essentially won the league with one of the last kicks of the game, and of course, it was Jude Bellingham to deliver the ecstasy to the Santiago Bernabeu and millions worldwide as the Englishman shattered Catalan hearts.

A cross from the right wing was seemingly missed by everyone but the Madrid’s top scorer was on the move in the box and arrived at the perfect time to slam the ball through Ter Stegen’s hands to settle the tie.

The last-gasp winner plays perfectly into the hands of Real Madrid, who extend their gap at the top to 11 points with six games to go in the season, as they enjoy a commanding lead in La Liga with 81 points on the board as things stand.

For Barcelona, the title race realistically ends and, perhaps more worryingly, the Catalonians are now just two points ahead of Girona in the race for second-place, which yields a kinder draw in the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League.