Robert Lewandowski scored twice, while Lamine Yamal and Raphinha tallied goals each, as Barcelona capped a remarkable week by routing Real Madrid 4-0 in Saturday’s Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu. With the lopsided loss, Real Madrid saw their 42-game unbeaten streak in LaLiga ended.
However, after a scoreless first half in which Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid wasted a slew of chances, Carlo Ancelotti’s side were torn apart by a ruthless Barça side, whose incredible start to the season under new coach Hansi Flick continued at the home of their biggest rivals.
Veteran striker Lewandowski scored twice in three second-half minutes to set Barça on their way, with Yamal firing the third into the roof of the net and Raphinha lofting the fourth over the head of goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was filling in for injured Thibaut Courtois.
The win comes just three days after Barça trounced Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League, and it moves them six points clear of rivals Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table after 11 games.
Madrid had not lost in the league since falling to Atlético Madrid at the beginning of last season, and even a draw here would have seen them draw level with Barça’s LaLiga record 43-game unbeaten streak.
This was supposed to be the Clásico of Mbappé, his first since joining Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer in the biggest blockbuster move of the summer transfer window.
He has always enjoyed playing Barça, scoring six times against them in four appearances with the French side, but his luck was out on Saturday.
An early miss, later ruled offside, set the tone for an evening of misses and offside calls.
One of those calls was given after he thought he had opened the scoring, dinking the ball over Iñaki Peña, but VAR revealed he mistimed his run behind Iñigo Martínez.
In total, Mbappe was caught offside six times in the first half, more than any game previously in his career, before another two offside calls in the second half. His eight offside calls in a single game is tied for the most of any player in the last 15 LaLiga seasons.
His first official shot on goal didn’t arrive until the 61st minute in the end. More followed, as well as another offside goal, but his finishing left something to be desired. Peña denied him on every occasion. He could have learned a thing or two from Lewandowski at the other end.
