Two goals from Kylian Mbappe, one off a rebound and the other a decisive one in the 88th minute, ended Barça's unbeaten run, as they were always chasing the game and ended up losing (1-2) in their worst match in a long time.
Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid's manager, read the course of the match to perfection and short-circuited Barça, who were never at their level, and conquered Camp Nou, a stage where the Blaugrana had strung together 23 victories since May 2025.
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Barça started better, but the control effect faded in barely five minutes. Real Madrid allowed Barça’s center-backs to build from the back, and that is where Mourinho’s team found its vein, with Gerard Martín as the Achilles’ heel, only Cubarsí created, and midfielders Rodri and Pedri did not show up.
Real Madrid surprised with Bernardo Silva's inclusion in midfield. He fielded four of the new signings, gave Guler freedom, and entrusted everything to the work of Bellingham, the pace of Mbappe, and the dribbling of Diomande.
But the match started out thick, and in the game of mistakes, Madrid felt at home and, after a moment of doubt from Pedri, Arda Guler issued the first warning in the 5th minute. Both teams felt more comfortable winning the ball back and attacking directly, a bad sign for Barça in this change of roles.
Without any combination play, with an unrecognizable Pedri, and with the few appearances of Lamine Yamal and the occasional spark from Raphinha, Gordon capitalized on the home side's attacking moves. In fact, all the play flowed down that flank, where Arda Guler was Mourinho's side's beacon.
The Turk appeared in the 18th minute, with a good shot parried away by Joan Garcia, and from then on Barça, with Raphinha as the main figure, the Blaugrana, although lacking creativity, did threaten more, although the match was where Mourinho wanted it.
Raphinha, in the 22nd minute, after a move by Pedri; the Brazilian again in a play involving Gordon (24) and once more LALIGA’s top scorer (33) with a shot just inside the post suggested that Barça could take the lead, but nothing could have been further from what actually happened.
Real Madrid had studied every twist in the script of the movie, and when after half an hour Xavi Espart had to come off at right-back, they saw the sky open up and Barça started to show its seams.
With Espart, Joao Cancelo injured, he played on the right and Balde came on down the left. Diomande and Cucurella smelled blood and, in a fortunate play, an action by Diomande fell to the feet of Gerard Martín; his clearance deflected off Mbappé, who just happened to be there, and the ball ended up in Joan Garcia's net in the 41st minute (0-1).
Before the break, Barça could have equalized in a move by Lamine, who shot wide when through alone against Lunin, and Diomande could also have extended his team's lead, with a shot into the side netting in added time.
'The "Flick effect" didn't work'
Flick's effect to change the match at halftime did not appear, and his team played with more risk, but without accuracy. On the Madrid side, Bellingham emerged as the standout player.
In the 50th minute, the Englishman did not choose well in a two-on-one alongside Mbappé, with Gerard Martín as the only defender. And from then on, Barça tried to inject pace into the match and Madrid tried to kill it off with some move by the Frenchman.
The first good move by Pedri during the match changed the outlook for his side. He set up Raphinha with a through pass, and the Brazilian beat Lunin with a low cross-shot in the 61st minute (1-1).
The equalizer seemed to change everything, but that was not the case. The match opened up, Real Madrid was already having doubts, although Guler still had a good chance to beat Joan Garcia. Without pause, in the next play, Lunin saved his team with a huge stop from a header by Gerard Martín (min. 66).
The final quarter of an hour was a Barça siege, but Real Madrid always looked dangerous on one of Mbappe's runs. And that is how the match was decided, with an excellent move by Camavinga, who gifted the goal to his compatriot to decide the game in the 88th minute (1-2).
The victory leaves the league more tightly packed, with Barça as leader, but with Atlético de Madrid two points behind and Real Madrid, in third, three points back.
Technical sheet
1 - Barcelona: Joan Garcia; Espart (Balde, min. 30), Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Cancelo; Rodrigo, Pedri, Fermín (de Jong, min. 74); Lamine Yamal, Raphinha (Gabriel Jesus, min. 86) and Gordon (Adeyemi, min. 86).
2 - Real Madrid: Lunin; Valverde (Dumfries, min. 62), Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella; Tchouaméni, Bernardo Silva (Camavinga, min. 80), Bellingham, Güler (Alexander Arnold, min. 90+4), Diomande (Espí, min. 90+4); and Mbappe.
Goals: 0-1, 41st minute: Mbappe. 1-1, 61st minute: Raphinha. 1-2, 88th minute: Mbappe.
Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (Valencian Committee). He booked Tchouaméni (min. 46), Gordon (min. 84), Huijsen (min. 90+2), Balde (min. 90+7) and Adeyemi (min. 90+7).
Incidents: 62,055 spectators attended the match on matchday ten of LaLiga played at Spotify Camp Nou