Highlights Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona, El Clasico, La Liga 2022-23: Benzema, Valverde, Rodrygo goals guide RMA to win

Real Madrid beats Barcelona by a scoreline of 3-1 and climbs to the top of the La Liga table.

Barcelona’s Franck Kessie is shown yellow

Rodrygo converts from the spot!! The Brazilian takes his chance brilliantly.

VAR checked the foul on Rodrygo inside the Barcelona box. The referee, who had initially not given the penalty, has a look again and gives the penalty to Madrid.

Rodrygo is brought down inside the box but the referee says it is not a foul and play continues.

IN- Asensio, Rudiger OUT- Benzema, Carvajal.

IN- Rodrygo OUT- Vinicius Jr.

BARCELONA PULLS ONE BACK!! FERRAN TORRES SCORES!! Ansu Fati with a lovely bit of skill to escape his marker. He makes his way inside the Madrid box and flashes a low pass across the goal. Lewandowksi gets a touch and finds Torres at the far-post with a nice flick. Torres, unmarked, makes no mistake in slotting the ball inside the net from that distance.

Gavi takes a shot from outside the box. The shot takes a wicked deflection and goes out for a Barca corner.

Gavi is shown yellow for his reckless challenge on Tchouameni.

Ferran finds Lewandowski with a low cross inside the Madrid box. But the speed of the all is too heavy and the Pole cannot get a proper touch. Lunin gathers the ball eventually.

IN- Eduardo Camavinga OUT- Luka Modric

Real Madrid loses possession near its box and Ansu Fati takes a shot from distance. It is a well-taken effort and misses the target by inches.

Luka Modric becomes the latest player to see the yellow card for his late challenge on Pedri.

Lewandowski takes a tumble inside the box. Barcelona players want a penalty but the referee says no foul and indicates play to continue.

IN- Ansu Fati OUT- Ousmane Dembele

Lewandowski takes the freekick but smashes his shot straight into the wall. A wasted chance by Barca there.

Dembele cuts in and makes a dangerous run along the Madrid box. But he is tripped by Tchouameni and it is a Barca freekick in a dangerous position.

Modric with some lovely skill to beat his marker and pass the ball to Benzema. Benzema would have had a clear run at goal but Eric Garcia does a good job of putting pressure on the Frenchman. The ball eventually goes out of play.

Vinicius with a dangerous run inside the Barca box. He tries to find space and the perfect opening to take his shot. He takes it but it is blocked.

Benzema showing some lovely vision to slip the ball to Vinicus who had made a run behind the defence. However, Ter Stegen dives and gets to the ball in time.

Dembele gets past Kroos with a lovely bit of footwork. He makes his way towards the Madrid box but Vinicus tracks back and makes a well-time challenge to snatch the ball from Dembele and break up the attack.

IN- Alba, Gavi, Torres OUT- Balde, Busquets, Raphinha

Barcelona trying to find an opening in the Real Madrid defence with some slick passing but to no avail. The Blaugranas were building a good attacking move but it ends after De Jong’s pass is intercepted.

Benzema with a fantastic finish with a curled shot in the bottom left corner. But the goal is ruled out because he was in an offside position when Vinicius crossed the ball to him.

Benzema sets up Kroos for a shot with ma cutback from the left. The German takes the shot first time but cannot keep his effort on target as the ball sails above goal.

Real Madrid has a goal-difference of +14 in the second-half this season in La Liga. This is an indication that the Spanish champion have been finishing games well and does not tend to slip in the second-half.

Real Madrid starts the second half with a 2-0 lead against Barcelona in the El Clasico.

Karim Benzema and Fede Valverde’s goals keep Real Madrid in a 2-0 lead against Barcelona at the break.

Just one added minute at the end of the first half!!

Lewandowski pulls Militao wide and tries to get a cross inside the box. Militao blocks the cross for a Barca corner.

Balde’s cross at the far-post finds Busquets. The veteran midfielder heads the ball back to Lewandowski who jumps to get a connection. However, the connection isn’t clean and the ball goes out for a Real Madrid goalkick.

Barcelona had conceded just one goal in its opening eight La Liga matches. And now, it has already conceded two in the first half in the El Clasico.

REAL MADRID SCORES ITS SECOND!! IT IS FEDER VALVERDE!! Madrid has soaked the pressure and hit Barca for the second. Vinicus did well to keep the ball. He passed the ball to Mendy on the overlap. Mendy saw Valverde in space and set him up for the shot. Valverde had a look and buries the ball in the bottom-left corner with a venomous shot.

A patient attacking move by Barcelona ends with Raphinha attempting a cross from the right. But Kroos was there to make the block.

Vinicius Jr sees the first yellow of the match for protesting the referee’s decision.

Lewandowski and Alaba with a clash as both went to win the ball. The referee eventually stops play so that the Pole can get some treatment.

Raphinha with a brilliant low cross from the left. All Lewandowski had to do was get a proper touch but he botches his effort from point-blank range and the ball takes a bobble and goes out of play.

Pedri and Lewandowski try to play a one-two inside the Madrid box but they are not in the same wavelength. Barca loses possession.

Busquets plays a forward pass to Lewandowski who was in space but the pass is overhit and Lewandowski cannot keep the ball.

Barcelona not being able to make things work from open space. Madrid’s defence has been extremely compact and disciplined till now.

Valverde tries to find a Madrid shirt with a low cross from the right. But the ball goes straight to De Jong.

Real Madrid with an ideal start at home. Barcelona needs a quick response. But it won’t be easy in front of the hostile Bernabeu crowd.

REAL MADRID SCORES!! IT IS KARIM BENZEMA!! Vinicius’ shot is saved by Ter Stegen but the rebound falls straight to Benzema. Benzema makes no mistake in slotting the ball inside the net from close-range.

Vinicius had a chance to shoot but kept the ball for too long. He is ultimately dispossessed.

Mendy passes to Vinicius inside the box. Vinicius turns and shoots but his shot is deflected. The deflected shot was almost creeping in. Barcelona survives.

Balde is put under pressure on the right flank by Carvajal but the Barca player does well to shield the ball and play it to safety.

Raphinha tries a curler from an ambitious distance. He keeps his effort on target but the ball goes straight to Madrid keeper Lunin.

A fast start to the match with both teams showing an attacking approach.

Valverde, in a lot of space, plays the ball to Vinicius on the left. He tries to escape Kounde who is marking him but takes the play out of play.

The Real Madrid vs Barcelona match is underway at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.

• Real Madrid has won seven of its opening eight matches in the La Liga campaign 2022-23. This is the highest number of wins the club has recorded at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1991-92. (W7 D1)
• Barcelona is unbeaten in its opening eight matches of the La Liga 2022-23 campaign and have conceded just one goal- equalling the second-lowest number of goals conceded by a team at this stage of a campaign in the competition (Deportivo La Coruna in 1993-94 and Real Madrid in 1997-98) after Barcelona itself in 2014-14 (0 goals conceded).
• Following its 4-0 win in March 2022, Barcelona has the chance to register successive victories against Real Madrid in La Liga for the first time since March 2019 under Ernesto Valverde. The last time Barcelona won back-to-back matches against Real Madrid in La Liga without conceding was between November 2009 and November 2010 under Pep Guardiola.

24/07/2022 – Real Madrid 0 – 1 FC Barcelona (Friendly)

21/03/2022 – Real Madrid 0 – 4 FC Barcelona (La Liga)

13/01/2022 – FC Barcelona 2 – 3 Real Madrid (Supercopa de Espana)

24/10/2021 – FC Barcelona 1 – 2 Real Madrid (La Liga)

11/04/2021 – Real Madrid 2 – 1 FC Barcelona (La Liga

Real Madrid La Liga form guide (Last five matches)

Won 3-1 vs Espanyol

Won 2-1 vs Real Betis

Won 4-1 vs Mallorca

Won 2-1 vs Atletico Madrid

Drew 1-1 vs Osasuna

Barcelona La Liga form guide (Last five matches)

Won 4-0 vs Real Valladolid

Won 3-0 vs Sevilla

Won 4-0 vs Cadiz

Won 3-0 vs Elche

Won 1-0 vs Mallorca

Real Madrid: Lunin(GK), Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Kroos, Benzema, Modric, Valverde, Tchouameni, Vinicius Jr, Mendy

Barcelona: Ter Stegen(GK), Sergio, Dembele, Pedri, Lewandowski, Roberto, De Jong, Raphinha, Kounde, Eric, Balde

In all competitions, Real Madrid and Barcelona have faced each other a total of 249 times out of which Madrid has won 100 times compared to Barca’s 97. 52 matches have ended in a draw.

In La Liga, both teams have played 184 times. Real Madrid leads here too with 76 wins compared to Barcelona’s 73. 35 matches have ended in a draw.

Lunin(GK), Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Kroos, Benzema, Modric, Valverde, Tchouameni, Vinicius Jr, Mendy

When does the Real Madrid vs Barcelona match kick-off?

The Real Madrid vs Barcelona match kicks-off at 7:45 PM IST at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid.

Where can I watch the Real Madrid vs Barcelona match?

India: The Real Madrid vs Barcelona, will be broadcast on the Sports18 TV channel in India. Live streaming of El Clasico in India will be available on the Voot Select app and website.

USA: The Real Madrid vs Barcelona, will be broadcast on the ESPN channel in the USA. Live streaming of El Clasico in USA will be available on ESPN+.

UK: The Real Madrid vs Barcelona, will be broadcast on the Premier Sports 1 channel in the UK. Live streaming of El Clasico in UK will be available on Premier Player HD.

Barcelona’s woeful European form has cast a shadow over its domestic resurgence, which will face the ultimate test on Sunday when it visits Real Madrid in a much anticipated El Clasico in LaLiga.

A revamped Barca, spearheaded by new signing Robert Lewandowski, has won seven consecutive LaLiga matches and shares the lead at the top of the standings on 22 points with Spanish and European champion Real.

However, its dreadful results in the Champions League have taken the shine off its domestic form and a 3-3 draw against Inter Milan on Wednesday left it on the verge of elimination from Europe’s elite competition at the group stage for the second straight season.

Barca has won only one of its four Champions League group matches and now faces an in-form Real Madrid which cruised into the Champions League knockouts with two games to spare after a 1-1 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s unbeaten team have begun this campaign where it left off last season when it won the Champions League and LaLiga double.

READ: El Clasico brings a lot of emotions: Former Barca striker Patrick Kluivert

It will host its bitter rival on Sunday with a practically full-strength squad, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois set to return after missing the last four games with back spasms.

Barcelona arrives with its morale dented and with several key players nursing injuries, mainly in defence where Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Jules Kounde are all out.

Barcelona, however, showed in March that it could spring an upset on its rivals when it delivered a 4-0 thrashing at Santiago Bernabeu when Real was on top of its game.

That result ultimately had little impact as Ancelotti’s side won the title with weeks to spare, but this season’s race is much tighter.

Sunday’s game will be just the eighth Clasico in history in which both clubs sit level on points at the top of the LaLiga table.

With Barcelona desperately in need of a win to heal its European wounds, Sunday’s game will likely be as tense and competitive as any Clasico can be.