Dimitris Kouimtsidis
REAL Madrid have beaten arch rivals Barcelona to move top of the table.
The second El Clasico of the season did not disappoint, with the Madrilenos winning 2-0 in front of their own crowd.
After an edgy first half in which the Blaugrana were the better side, Vicinius Junior put Real in front in the 71st minute.
This goal made the 19-year-old Brazilian the youngest scorer in an El Clasico league game this century, surpassing Messi’s record from 2007.
Mariano, who hadn’t played a single minute of La Liga football this season, came on and scored the second in injury time, securing all three points for his side.
Barca and Spanish international Gerard Pique described the first half as Madrid’s worst performance in all the years he has faced them in the Spanish capital.
Zidane’s side had not beaten their opponents in the league in the past seven attempts, but this win was crucial in keeping the title race tight.
The Frenchman said: “We deserve our victory for everything we did, in attack and defence.
“It has been a complicated week for us and we had the chance to turn things around, and we did that.
“But this win also doesn’t change anything.
“We have a long way to go and we have to continue.
“We’ve got three important points but we’ll have more difficult games and we will be criticised again.”
Setien’s side on the other hand had won the last four games at the Bernabeu and could have made it five, had it not been for their missed chances in the first half.
The Spaniard spoke after the match: “We were clear about what we had to do.
“We had to wait for our moment and be patient and try to keep the ball.
“In the second half I can’t understand why we started to lose the ball easily.
“We were able to breathe life back into Real Madrid.
“It was a shame we weren’t able to take the form of the first half into the second.”
