Zinedine Zidane can breathe. Under pressure, even in danger, the Real Madrid coach was playing big with the Barcelona rival this Saturday. But his team finally won the Clasico on behalf of the 7th day of La Liga (3-1).
What you must remember
A first Clasico in the air of the final, already, for the French, after two defeats at home, in La Liga against the promoted Cadiz (0-1) then against Shakhtar Donetsk (2-3) in the Champions League, Wednesday. The former captain of the Blues offered himself a breath of fresh air, bringing back a precious victory from Camp Nou (3-1). All in an unprecedented meeting: Covid-19 obliges, there were no spectators in the largest stadium in Europe (99,00 seats).
It only takes five minutes for Real to open the scoring thanks to Fede Valverde, perfectly found by Karim Benzema in the back of the Catalan defense. Without Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembélé, again left on the bench at kick-off, Barça equalized with their nugget Ansu Fati, almost in stride (8th).
Victim of a foul by Clément Lenglet in the Blaugrana area, Ramos himself converted a penalty (63rd, 2-1) before Luka Modric increased the score in stoppage time.
Entering in the 81st minute, Griezmann and Dembélé did not have the opportunity to weigh on the meeting. Easy winner of the modest Hungarians of Ferencvaros in the Champions League (5-1), Barça disappoints again in La Liga, after a defeat in Getafe (1-0) and a draw against Sevilla (1-1). The Catalans are 10th in the standings, 6 points behind Real. The people of Madrid temporarily regain the lead in the championship, two points ahead of Real Sociedad.
Man of the match: Lenglet is expensive for Barça
Overtaken on Valverde’s opener, Clément Lenglet was guilty of pulling a shirt on Sergio Ramos, in his area, on the hour mark. Result: a whistled penalty after consulting the VAR, and converted by the Spaniard (2-1, 63rd).
The figure: 17 years and 359 days
From the 8th minute, Barcelona phenom Ansu Fati became the youngest goalscorer in a Clasico in the 21st century, at 17 years and 359 days. He thus erases from the shelves one of his opponents of the day, the Madrid player Vinicius, scorer on March 1 at 19 years and 233 days. In the whole history of this rivalry, the former Barcelonan Alfonso Navarro, scorer at 17 years and 356 days, in 1947, remains the earliest.