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Lamine Yamal makes history as Barcelona beat Real Madrid in El Clásico


Lamine Yamal makes history as Barcelona beat Real Madrid in El Clásico



CNN

Real Madrid suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to arch-rivals Barcelona in the latest edition of El Clásico on home soil on Saturday.

After a relatively even first half ended 0-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu, an early brace from Robert Lewandowski at the start of the second period put Barcelona on the path to a clear victory.

Lamine Yamal made it 3-0 midway through the second half and became the youngest goalscorer in El Clásico history at just 17 years and 106 days, before Raphinha scored the fourth goal towards the end.

“I have always said that I am very happy to work and live in Barcelona,” manager Hansi Flick said after the game, according to Diario AS, when asked if it had been his best night since taking over in May.

“It's an incredible job and a new part of my life. I'm very proud of the team… there is confidence. The players were celebrating in the locker room and I love seeing it.”

The defeat ended Real Madrid's 42-game unbeaten streak in La Liga and finished one game short of the record set by Barcelona between 2017 and 2018.

Barcelona's win extended their early lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to six points, with the team led by an impressive group of young stars.

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about how Barcelona's famed La Maria academy no longer produces the same talent it once did, but five of the players in Saturday's starting lineup came from the club's ranks.

Among them were two 17-year-olds, Yamal and Pau Cubarsí.

The big win caps an impressive week for Barcelona, ​​who also beat Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Barcelona are six points clear at the top of La Liga.

It was a particularly tough evening for Real Madrid's new superstar Kylian Mbappé, who struggled on his first visit to El Clásico.

The French striker struggled to influence the game, wasting two good chances and was offside eight times during the game.

But Real coach Carlo Ancelotti was confident in his assessment of the game and insisted the result would not define the team's season.

“We don’t have to throw everything in the trash because there’s nothing to throw away,” the Italian said, according to AS. “We have to forget the last 30 minutes. The season is very long, we must not give up. We have to learn. We learned a lot from the last defeat and I think that will happen again. The team can do better and we will.

“I'm worried about the defeat, but we have to improve quickly. We were doing well until the mistakes in the second half. We have to keep competing and fighting. We've already lost 4-0 to Barça here and won the league and the Champions League. We will compete as before. We won’t be far away from where we were last season.”

After the game, Real Madrid announced it would launch an investigation after videos on social media appeared to show Jamal being racially abused in the stands.

For Kylian Mbappé it was a night to forget.

“Real Madrid strongly condemns any behavior that involves racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport and deeply regrets the insults expressed by some fans in a corner of the stadium last night,” the club's statement said.

“Real Madrid has launched an investigation to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken.”

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