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Lewandowski double helps Barcelona to stunning win at Real Madrid

rugby26 October 2024 21:00| © Reuters
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Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski scored a quick-fire second-half double to set the leaders on course for a 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid in a sensational Clasico victory in LaLiga on Saturday.

The Polish striker pounced with two goals in three minutes early in the second half before 17-year-old Lamine Yamal became the youngest Clasico scorer in the 77th minute and captain Raphinha wrapped up a comfortable win six minutes from time.

Barca extended their lead at the top as they moved to 30 points, six above Real and nine clear of Villarreal in third.

After four consecutive Clasico defeats, the Catalans claimed their first triumph over Real since March 2023 in style with a clinical performance in which they were true to coach Hansi Flick's ideas of gambling with an aggressively high defence.

The visitors were more than comfortable playing on the counter-attack, exploiting the lightning speed of Raphinha and Yamal to help feed LaLiga top scorer Lewandowski.

Real were positive at the start but became frustrated as they wasted several chances, mainly through off form Kylian Mbappe, before Lewandowski silenced the crowd with a two-goal blitz in the 54th and 56th minutes to reach 14 goals in 11 league games.

The hosts tried to get back into the contest but their batch of missed opportunities continued with Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Mbappe wasting clear openings that infuriated their fans, who started booing inside the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barca kept playing their game and it was a matter of time until they ended the contest with two more goals on the counter through the precocious Yamal and ever dangerous Raphinha.

"We struggled in the beginning," Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez told DAZN.

"Real Madrid were pressing, it was expected, but we overcame it. We have been performing really well, on very good form and let's hope we can continue like this."

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