Madrid claims El Clasico as Barca falls flat
Sergio Ramos returned to win and score a game-turning penalty in Real Madrid's 3-1 Clasico win at Barcelona on Sunday (AEDT).
Madrid captain Ramos was substituted in last week's home defeat to Cadiz and missed the subsequent shock reverse against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League as the Spanish champion crept towards a crisis ahead of its first meeting with Barca this season.
But the centre-back was fit to start for the crunch LaLiga clash at Camp Nou and drew a second-half spot-kick from Clement Lenglet to restore Madrid's lead after Ansu Fati had cancelled out Federico Valverde's opener in a frantic start.
Luka Modric then preyed on a Neto error in the 90th minute to secure the points and take Zinedine Zidane's men top, earning back-to-back LaLiga wins against their fiercest rivals for the first time since May 2008 – the last time Madrid successfully defended its domestic title.
Meanwhile, Barca is now without a win in three in the league and sit six points back in mid-table under new coach Ronald Koeman, who was brought in to spark an improvement after an ordinary 2019/2020 season for Catalan side.
