Barcelona snapped a five-game losing streak against Real Madrid in spectacular fashion on Sunday, winning the Clasico 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Xavi’s men dominated from the start and went into the halftime break two goals ahead thanks to headers from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ronald Araujo.
They continued where they left off at the start of the second quarter, with Ferran Torres and Aubameyang scoring before the hour mark.
The Blaugrana are 12 points behind Carlo Ancelotti’s league leaders, despite Xavi’s third-placed team having a game in hand.
Federico Valverde drew a smart save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen early on, while Thibaut Courtois stopped Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembele in quick succession.
Torres then whipped narrowly wide from just outside the penalty area before Barca’s dominance bore fruit in the 29th minute when Aubameyang headed in Dembele’s right-wing cross from inside the six-yard box.
Courtois denied Aubameyang a second soon after, yet Madrid found themselves 2-0 behind after 38 minutes when an unmarked Araujo nodded home Dembele’s corner from eight yards.
Torres made amends for a glaring miss 20 seconds into the second half with Barca’s third in the 47th minute, the Spain international slamming into the net after he had been superbly picked out by Aubameyang’s back-heeled pass.
Aubameyang made it 4-0 in the 51st minute with a sumptuous finish over Courtois after being played in by Torres, the goal given by VAR after it had initially been ruled out for offside.
Torres, Aubameyang and Dembele all had wonderful chances to compound Madrid’s misery further, yet it mattered little in the end as Barca extended their unbeaten away run in LaLiga to 11 games in memorable fashion.
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Only Sevilla have conceded fewer goals than Madrid in LaLiga this season, yet Los Blancos’ backline had no answer to Barca’s breathtaking attacking display.
The result meant Xavi became only the second Blaugrana head coach to remain unbeaten after his first 10 away games in LaLiga after Ernesto Valverde, who did not lose any of his first 18. If the Catalan giants continue to play like this on the road, Xavi will have no issues powering past that record.
Aubameyang’s hot streak continues
Aubameyang has wasted little time making an impact since his arrival from Arsenal last month. The Gabon international has now scored in each of his last five meetings with Madrid (seven goals), making him the first player to score in five successive games against Los Blancos in the 21st century.
Madrid’s dismal defence
Eder Militao and David Alaba endured a torrid time against Barca’s supreme forward line. The visitors broke through the duo’s wafer-thin resistance with alarming ease and could easily have won by an even greater margin, with a combination of wasteful finishing and Courtois’ goalkeeping stopping the scoring at four.
What’s next?
Madrid are next in action on April 2 when they visit Celta Vigo in LaLiga, while Barca travel to Sevilla in the Spanish top flight a day later.
