Royal 'Real' at Camp Nou

French star Kylian Mbappé gifted his club Real Madrid and their Portuguese manager José Mourinho victory in the Clásico against traditional rivals Barcelona, the reigning champions and league leaders, by scoring the two winning goals in a 2-1 triumph on Saturday at Camp Nou in the tenth round. Mourinho halted Barcelona’s dominance, led by German coach Hansi Flick, who had won six of their last seven meetings, in the first Clásico since his return to the capital club. According to Opta statistics, Mourinho became the third Real Madrid manager to achieve a streak of six consecutive unbeaten matches against Barcelona, following Miguel Muñoz (between 1962 and 1965) and Vicente del Bosque (between 2001 and 2003).

The victory provided a significant morale boost for the 63-year-old, who is reviving his career in Madrid after two modest spells with Turkish club Fenerbahçe and Portuguese side Benfica. It marked Real Madrid’s fourth consecutive win across all competitions, and their eighth in their last nine matches. The result reduced Real Madrid’s gap with Barcelona to three points, handing the Catalan side their first league defeat of the season and their second consecutive loss in all competitions, following their defeat to French club Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League earlier in the week.

In Barcelona, Real Madrid entered the match without Brazilian winger Vinícius Júnior, who was suspended after receiving a red card two weeks ago, and also missed Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, whose absence was announced hours before the match due to a flu-like illness. The home side, meanwhile, were missing several key players, most notably Frenchman Jules Koundé, Eric García, Dani Olmo, and Dane Andreas Christensen. The team appeared surprisingly lackluster, particularly in the first half.

Barcelona suffered a significant blow when full-back Chavi Espart was forced off with an injury in the 30th minute, after French midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni had made contact with his leg just minutes earlier, with the referee issuing only a verbal warning. Mbappé found himself in the right place to open the scoring, albeit unintentionally, when Gerard Martín attempted to clear a cross from Ivorian forward Yam Demeledé, but the ball struck the French striker and found its way into the net (41st minute). Lamine Yamal missed a chance to equalize from close range (45th minute).

In the second half, Barcelona came alive and attacked the visitors’ goal more frequently, with their efforts paying off when Raphinha scored from inside the box following a pass from Pedri (61st minute). Just as it seemed Barcelona were closest to scoring a second, Mbappé netted his second, taking advantage of the efforts of substitute compatriot Eduardo Camavinga, who drove into the penalty area and provided a decisive pass that left Mbappé facing an empty net after García had been sent off (87th minute).

In another match, Athletic Bilbao thrashed visitors Getafe 4-0 at San Mamés, continuing their unbeaten home record since their defeat in the opening match. The Basque side regained their balance after a draw and a loss, thanks to goals from Alex Berenguer (17th minute), Ghanaian Iñaki Williams (35th minute), Aitor Paredes (70th minute), and Yuri Berchiche (88th minute), while Getafe’s Mario Martín was sent off (86th minute). Bilbao moved up to 12 points with their third league win of the season, while Getafe remained stuck on 9 points.

Real Sociedad defeated visitors Levante 2-1, while Celta Vigo drew goallessly with Real Betis.