El Clasico: Benzema leads Real Madrid to victory, first place in La Liga

The most talked about match of the weekend with over 700 million viewers saw a renewal of the legendary rivalry at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday and Los Blancos emerged 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Karim Benzema, Fede Valverde and a Penalty from Rodrygo in the 90th minute.

Carlo Ancelotti's side had not lost at the Santiago Bernabeu in their last 30 games, and the unbeaten streak at home continued with victory and a three-point cushion at the top of La Liga. It was Barcelona's first defeat of the season in Xavi Hernadez's 50th game in charge of the Catalans.

First-half goals from Karim Benzema and Fede Valverde gave Galacticos the lead before Rodrygo silenced the visitors with a last-minute penalty after substitute Ferran Torres brought Barcelona back into the competition with his goal in the 83rd minute.

Barcelona started the game with a first try, as Raphinha's shot in the fifth minute was saved by the Madrid goalkeeper.

Two minutes later, Robert Lewandowski's shot was blocked by former Bayern Munich team-mate David Alaba to keep the game level.

However, the game turned in Madrid's favor in the 12th minute of the match after Benzema fired first blood for Los Blancos with a finish from 15 yards out after Ter Stegen parried a Vinicius Junior shot on the French way.< /p>

Barcelona missed a chance to equalize after Lewandoski failed to connect Raphinha's cross at the edge of the post in the 25th minute.

Madrid did well to double their lead before half-time after Barcelona defenders gave Fede Valverde acres of space in front of Madrid's box to shoot past Ter Stegen.

Benzema thought he had his brace in the 52nd minute, but the assistant referee correctly ruled it offside

On the hour mark, Barca pressed more offensively as they searched for a way back into the game, but the Madrid defenders fended off all efforts from Ousmane Dembele and Lewandowski.

In the 68th minute, Andriy Lunin denied a potential header from Lewandowski from a corner.

Four minutes later, Lewandowski's free kick was blocked by the wall of Madrid players. The striker protested for a penalty after a tackle from Eder Militao in the 74th minute.

Ansu Fati replaced Dembele, and he couldn't get his shot on target in the 78th minute. But Fati had an impact after all, as he assisted in Ferran Torres' consolation goal seven minutes from stoppage time.

Barça would have completed the comeback that began in the 83rd minute with an acrobatic shot from Ansu Fati, after Ferran Torres' header in the 86th minute.

Meanwhile, Barcelona's chance for an equalizer was thwarted after Rodrygo was fouled by Eric Garcia and penalized with a penalty after a VAR check. The Brazilian took it and scored in the 90th minute.

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