With 20 minutes remaining in Sunday's ELCLASICO, the gap between first-placed Real Madrid and second-placed FC Barcelona in the LALIGA EA SPORTS table was down to just five points. By the time the full-time whistle sounded around the Bernabéu, the difference was 11 points, after Los Blancos completed a 3-2 comeback victory with a stoppage-time Jude Bellingham winner.
It was a dramatic and entertaining back-and-forth affair, one which could have gone either way. Below come five explanations to outline exactly how Real Madrid ensured they took the three points.
Bellingham comes up clutch again
Both of the ELCLASICO match-ups in this 2023/24 LALIGA EA SPORTS season have been won via stoppage time goals from Jude Bellingham. After the Englishman scored a late winner for a 2-1 victory in Catalonia earlier this season, he was once again the man to turn the ball into the back of the net on Sunday, this time completing the 3-2 win. That makes him the first player since Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006/07 to score in both ELCLASICO league games in his debut season at Real Madrid. All season long, the 20-year-old has contributed in the most important matches and he once again came up clutch to bury the chance in stoppage time.
Lucas Vázquez is Mr. Reliable
One of Real Madrid's best performers on the night isn't usually a starter for the team. That's Lucas Vázquez, who was filling in for Dani Carvajal at right-back and who produced an excellent performance, winning the penalty through which Vinícius scored Los Blancos' first goal of the night before the 32-year-old scored the goal that made it 2-2 with a tidy finish. Coming just a few days after he so coolly and calmly took and converted a penalty in his team's Champions League victory over Manchester City, Lucas Vázquez once again proved that Real Madrid can always rely on him.
Vinícius' vision helps him assist
As well as converting Real Madrid's first-half penalty, Vinícius also made a decisive contribution in the second half by setting up Lucas Vázquez's goal. Receiving the ball in space, the Brazilian made sure to scan the pitch and spotted the right-back arriving into the penalty area on the opposite flank. The left winger played a perfect ball past the Barça defence. It was a similarly long pass to his assist for Fede Valverde in the recent Champions League first leg against Manchester City and also similar to a goal Barça conceded to Ousmane Dembélé against PSG in the midweek before ELCLASICO. Vinícius had clearly done his homework and seemed to know at all times where his teammates were on the pitch.
Fran García's defensive help
The MVP of this match was actually an FC Barcelona player, and few could argue that Lamine Yamal didn't deserve this individual award. The Barça winger was brilliant, creating chance after chance for his team and giving Eduardo Camavinga a tough night as he played out of position at left-back. When Carlo Ancelotti made a switch with 20 minutes to go to replace Camavinga with Fran García, this proved key as the young left-back helped to slow down Lamine Yamal during the final stages. The winger had 11 touches inside the Real Madrid penalty area in the game, but only one of these was while Fran García was on the pitch. That was key in Real Madrid turning the game around.
Real Madrid's winning mentality
Perhaps the main reason why this game finished 3-2 and not 2-2 is that Real Madrid went all in during stoppage time. Even though a draw would have seen Los Blancos maintain their significant eight-point lead at the top of the table, they wanted more. As Lucas Vázquez explained after the match: “With five minutes to go there was a freekick against us and we were saying to each other 'Let's go get another goal, we're going to win'." That's what Real Madrid did, taking some risks in the final moments which paid off and which mean they're on the verge of their 36th LALIGA EA SPORTS title.
