Mbappe, Madrid claim first blood in Clasico

Real Madrid finally ended its recent struggles against rival Barcelona in a tense Clasico that saw players confronting each other after the final whistle.

Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham scored as Los Blancos beat Barcelona 2-1 in the first Clasico of the season on Sunday, halting a fourgame losing streak against the Catalan giant.

The victory increased Madrid's league lead over Barcelona to five points after 10 rounds.

There was a scuffle between the bench players from both teams after Barcelona's Pedri was sent off just before the final whistle. The altercation continued after the game ended, with Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and Barcelona's teen star striker Lamine Yamal — who was successfully contained by Madrid defenders during the match — among those involved.

"It was the moment and the tension of both teams," Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said. "It was the tension of an important match and a close result. We shouldn't read too much into these moments of tension. All sorts of things have happened in Clasicos."

Vinicius and Yamal — whose prematch comments upset some Madrid fans — exchanged words a couple of times during the game. Vinicius gestured against Yamal, using his hands to hint that the Barcelona star was talking too much.

"Talk is cheap," Bellingham posted on Instagram after the match.

The England player called it "a magnificent performance from the whole team".

"This victory is also for the fans," he told Real Madrid TV. "Last year we played badly in the big games, and today, this victory was for everyone."

Yamal and Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Madrid defender Dani Carvajal also got into an altercation after the match.

Madrid reserve goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was sent off following the post-match scuffle, and Vinicius was among the players shown a yellow card.

Vinicius was visibly upset when he was replaced by Rodrygo in the 72nd. He went straight to the locker room before rejoining his teammates on the bench a few minutes later.

"All coaches know that there are different personalities," Alonso said. "Now we'll enjoy it and, when the time comes, we'll talk about these things in the dressing room, of course."

France star shines

France forward Mbappe, who failed to convert a second-half penalty kick, put Madrid ahead halfway through the first half. That came after VAR had already reversed a penalty call and a goal for the host in the opening 15 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Mbappe opened the scoring in the 22nd minute — increasing his league-leading tally to 11 goals — in a breakaway, calmly finding the net with only Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to beat after a nice through ball by Bellingham.

It was Mbappe's 16th goal in his last 13 matches for both club and country.

Barcelona equalized through Fermin Lopez in the 38th and Bellingham netted the winner in the 43rd.

Mbappe had his penalty kick saved by Szczesny in the 52nd.

Madrid has won 12 of its 13 matches this season, with its lone setback a 5-2 league loss at Atletico Madrid in September.

It was the third loss of the season for Barcelona in all competitions, having fallen earlier this month 2-1 to Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League and 4-1 at Sevilla in La Liga.

Yamal was making his third appearance after an injury layoff for a groin issue sustained on international duty with Spain.

The youngster, though, proved ineffective, being kept in check by Madrid defender Alvaro Carreras throughout the match.

Rashford's assist

Barcelona equalized after a mistake by Madrid midfielder Arda Guler, who lost possession near his own area to allow Marcus Rashford to make a run through the left side and find Lopez for an easy strike from close range.

Bellingham put Madrid ahead again five minutes later, finding the open net from near the goal line after a headed attempt by Madrid defender Eder Militao on the back of another nice run and cross into the box by Vinicius.

Bellingham, who missed the first part of the season following shoulder surgery, had scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday in Madrid's 1-0 Champions League win over Juventus. He was also involved in the play that led to the missed penalty by Mbappe — a handball by Barcelona defender Eric Garcia as he tried to contain Bellingham inside the area.

Mbappe had another goal chalked off for offside in first-half stoppage time.

Early penalty reversed

Madrid was awarded a penalty two minutes into the game after a run by Vinicius inside the area, but the call was reversed after video review. Vinicius went down after he kicked Yamal's leg while trying to get a shot on goal. The referee initially called a foul on Vinicius, but changed his mind after reviewing the play.

Madrid thought it had opened the scoring about 10 minutes later when Mbappe found the net with a longrange shot, but VAR again stepped in, ruling that he was offside when he received the ball.

Pedri was sent off deep into second-half stoppage time after a sliding tackle on Aurelien Tchouameni.

Los Blancos' Redemption

Madrid was outscored 16-7 last season as it lost every Clasico across all competitions. It was the first time Barcelona won every Clasico in a season that had at least three matches between the rivals.

Barcelona arrived Sunday with injury woes in attack, and coach Hansi Flick had to watch the game from a stadium box after he was shown a red card for protesting in the previous round of games. Striker Robert Lewandowski was out with a hamstring injury and forward Raphinha remains on the injury list because of a right leg ailment sustained in late September. Playmaker Dani Olmo and first-choice goalkeeper Joan Garcia had already been ruled out due to injuries.

Raphinha, who was among those involved in the altercation at the end of the match, netted five of the 16 goals that Barcelona scored in the four matches against Madrid last season.

Agencies Via Xinhua