Barcelona beats Real Madrid in the absolute final phase and advances to the title


Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 10:56 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 23:06

Barcelona beat Real Madrid in stoppage time on Sunday. Franck Kessié scored in minute 90 + 2 for a 2-1 final score and seems to have blasted Barça towards the championship in LaLiga. It had been ten games since Barça had won an edition of el Clásico in their own stadium. Xavi’s men take a lead of no less than twelve points on the arch-rival from Madrid. There are still twelve rounds to go in Spain.

A week ago, Barcelona won by hanging and strangling against Ahtletic Club (0-1). Xavi saw few reasons to make adjustments, but he did bring Ronald Araújo, who had returned from a suspension, back to the right-back position. Ferran Torres had to give up his place; Gavi moved on to attack. Karim Benzema is struggling with his fitness at Real Madrid. The captain let the return against Liverpool (1-0 win) run, but was able to start in the Camp Nou.

The first ten minutes were full of spectacle. Marc-André ter Stegen saved a shot from Benzema in the first minute, then Thibaut Courtois had to save on a shot from Robert Lewandowski’s turn and a header from Raphinha on the other side. Roberto also fired just over from a volley a minute later. Back on the other side of the field, it was only the ninth minute of the game, Real Madrid were very lucky when Vinícius Júnior passed the ball from the backline. The ball bounced off Araújo and was untenable for Ter Stegen, who was completely surprised: 0-1.

Barcelona took the upper hand, forcing Courtois to make two saves from Andreas Christensen’s headers. The Real goalkeeper was tested again after more than half an hour by Raphinha, who cut in from the right and saw his shot taken. The pressure from Barcelona continued and resulted in a goal in the last minute of the first half. Frenkie de Jong put back to Raphinha in the penalty area, whose shot smothered in a block. Roberto got the ball at his feet and placed it from eleven meters: 1-1.

After an hour of play, Lewandowski was reached by De Jong at sixteen meters from the goal. With a handy movement, the Barcelona striker created some space for a threatening shot, but Eduardo Camavinga was able to slide the ball just wide. Fifteen minutes before the end, Gavi did aim between the posts, but Courtois distinguished himself with a nice save. Barca had a hard time in the final phase. Christensen just handed the ball in to Benzema, who produced a weak shot. Substitute Marco Asensio tapped in in minute 81 after a cross from Dani Carvajal, but after minutes of deliberation, Asensio turned out to have been in an offside position: no goal. Instead, Barcelona seized power in stoppage time. Alejandro Balde crossed low from the left and substitute Kessié put the inside of his shoe against the ball: 2-1.

No. Team m W G v +/- Pnt
1 Barcelona 26 22 2 2 40 68
2 RealMadrid 26 17 5 4 30 56
3 Atletico Madrid 26 15 6 5 23 51
4 real society 26 14 6 6 11 48
5 RealBetis 26 13 6 7 8 45
6 Villarreal 26 12 5 9 8 41
7 Athletic Club 26 10 6 10 8 36
8 Rayo Vallecano 26 9 9 8 1 36
9 Osasuna 26 9 7 10 -5 34
10 Celta de Vigo 26 9 7 10 -3 34
11 Real Majorca 26 9 5 12 -5 32
12 Girona 26 8 7 11 -1 31
13 Getafe 26 7 8 11 -7 29
14 Seville 26 7 7 12 -13 28
15 Cadiz 26 6 10 10 -17 28
16 Real Valladolid 26 8 4 14 -18 28
17 Espanyol 26 6 9 11 -10 27
18 valencia 26 7 5 14 -3 26
19 Almeria 26 7 5 14 -15 26
20 Elche 26 2 7 17 -32 13