Hyderabad : FC Barcelona took giant strides towards winning LaLiga by
beating 4-3 arch-rivals Real Madrid in what turned out to be an absolute
thriller at the EstadiOlmpicLlusCompanys on Sunday, May 11. With the win,
Barcelona took a 7-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid and are looking
like the favourites to lift the trophy this season.
A hattrick by KylianMbappe was not enough as the Catalonians firmly
grabbed the bragging rights on Sunday.
Goals by Eric Garcia, LamineYamal and a brace by Raphinha secured the
comeback win for the hosts after Mbappe early burst of goals had them trailing
by two within the opening 15 minutes.
With this victory, Barcelona moved seven points clear of Real Madrid in
La Liga standings and now need to win only one of their three remaining games
to clinch the league title for the 28th time.
Mbappe looked ready for the occasion from the get go and earned a
penalty, after drawing a foul by goalie WojciechSzczesny in the 5thh minute
which he converted with ease. He doubled their advantage just nine minutes
later. An assist by ViniciusJr saw the Frenchman convert his 38th goal of the
season which saw him move past Chilean striker Ivan Zamorano, who scored a
remarkable 37 goals for Real Madrid in the 1992/93 season, the most by a player
in his debut season for the club.
However the visitor’s were in for a rude awakening as Ferran Torres,
during a corner, glanced the ball towards Garcia which he headed in goal in the
19th minute.
The floodgates were open and Barca chased the deficit like hungry wolves.
Yamal continued his wonder season with a driven shot which lay low making it
difficult for Courtois in goal to make the save.
Just two minutes later Raphinha had his first goal of the day.
The
Brazilian winger was fed beautifully on the wing by midfielder Pedri which he
made no mistake in converting. Raphinha doubled Barca’s advantage just minutes
before the half-time whistle.
Madrid were not able to crawl out of the hole
dug by their rivals and had to end their 24-25 campaign ends winless against
rivals FC Barcelona this season after having lost 0-4 at the Bernabeu earlier
in the league, 2-5 in the Spanish Super Cup Final in Riyadh, and 2-3 at La
Cartuja in the Copa del Rey Final