Barcelona Dominates Real Madrid 4-0: Player Ratings in Clasico Showdown

Barcelona scored four times in the second half as they blew away bitter rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico at the Bernabeu on Saturday night.

Two quickfire goals from Robert Lewandowski stunned the hosts and Los Blancos looked completely hapless late on as Lamine Yamal and Raphinha took the scoreline to 4-0.

Kylian Mbappe had a nightmare debut in the fixture, constantly straying offside and scuppering his side's best chances on their way to defeat.

With all the subplots talked about and the players champing at the bit, El Clasico kicked off as Madrid applied some early pressure at the Bernabeu.

Mbappe first ran offside and shot wide before Vinicius Junior began darting towards the penalty area from the left wing. Inaki Pena had to deal with a corner before Lamine Yamal started to show his skills, weaving through Madrid defenders before teasing a ball towards Raphinha, who just couldn't latch on to it.

An Mbappe potshot nearly dipped over Pena from distance, while Yamal could only shoot straight at Andriy Lunin from Lewandowski's flick.

Vinicius was wasteful from close range, dragging an effort into the side netting with only Pena to beat, before Mbappe's kryptonite hounded him again as he ran offside before finishing and celebrating, only to see the goal quickly chalked off.

While Madrid arguably boasted the better openings of the first 45 minutes, it was Lewandowski's contribution early in the second period that proved decisive.

The Poland international galloped on to Marc Casado's awesome pass forward, with Ferland Mendy inexplicably keeping him level. Lewandowski rolled his shot in at the near post and soon doubled Barca's advantage with another clinical finish.

With his second goal in three minutes, the 36-year-old rose unmarked to powerfully head in Alejandro Balde's cross from the left, leaving the Bernabeu crowd totally stunned by the quick double punch.

It could have been even worse for Carlo Ancelotti's side. Lewandowski could have secured the match ball with two gilt-edged chances but hit the post from point-blank range before ballooning another opportunity over the bar.

The misses mattered little, however. While Madrid have shown their powerful techniques of recovery as recently as Tuesday night when they came from 2-0 down to beat Borussia Dortmund 5-2, Saturday's hosts had little response to Barca's slick football and let in a third when Yamal made history.

The Spain wonderkid skipped down the right and fired past Andriy Lunin at the near post, becoming the youngest goalscorer in El Clasico history.

That goal put the match beyond Madrid, but it got worse for the reigning Spanish and European champions as Inigo Martinez easily picked out Raphinha with a long ball forward. The Brazilian got on the end of it and looped his effort over Lunin, capping a truly remarkable Barca performance and ending Madrid's unbeaten La Liga run which had stretched back to 24 September 2023.

GK: Andriy Lunin - 4/10 - Looked nervy throughout the evening and would have been disappointed to be beaten at his near post by Yamal.

RB: Lucas Vazquez - 4/10 - The veteran was run ragged throughout, forming little connection with his central defence as Barca consistently got in behind.

CB: Eder Militao - 3/10 - At no point truly got to grips with Lewandowski, who made the hosts pay.

CB: Antonio Rudiger - 4/10 - Positionally errant and couldn't reassemble his backline with his leadership.

LB: Ferland Mendy - 3/10 - Inexplicably kept Lewandowski onside and things only got worse from there.

RM: Jude Bellingham - 4/10 - Showed no signs of lethal touch in front of goal returning and his attempts to dribble usually ended in failure.

CM: Federico Valverde - 3/10 - Had real difficulty getting close to Barca's nippy midfield three and his indefatigable running couldn't influence proceedings.

CM: Aurelien Tchouameni - 3/10 - Didn't show nearly enough tenacity in midfield, failing to set an acceptable tempo in the middle of the park.

LM: Eduardo Camavinga - 5/10 - One of Madrid's better performers, snapping into five successful tackles.

ST: Kylian Mbappe - 2/10 - The France captain dropped a stinker on his Clasico debut, failing to stay onside and not truly working Pena with any of his shots.

ST: Vinicius Junior - 5/10 - Looked capable of breaking the deadlock in the first half but was sloppy in front of goal. Couldn't stop the bleeding on his own late on.

SUB: Luka Modric (63' for Tchouameni) - /10

SUB: Brahim Diaz (77' for Camavinga) - N/A

SUB: Fran Garcia (86' for Mendy) - N/A

Subs not used: Fran Gonzalez (GK), Sergio Mestre (GK), Jesus Vallejo, Dani Ceballos, Arda Guler, Endrick.

Carlo Ancelotti - 2/10 - The first half was fine but Madrid's heads totally dropped after Lewandowski's goals and Ancelotti did little to stop the rot.

GK: Inaki Pena - 6/10 - Had a couple of saves to make but wasn't forced into any highlight-reel stops.

RB: Jules Kounde - 7/10 - Managed to deal with Vinicius relatively well, though the Brazilian naturally got the better of him a couple of times.

CB: Pau Cubarsi - 7/10 - Showed plenty of confidence and wasn't overawed by the occasion.

CB: Inigo Martinez - 8/10 - Continued his excellent form at Barca and even grabbed an assist for Raphinha's strike. Very commanding at the back.

LB: Alejandro Balde - 7/10 - Great ball in from the left helped Lewandowski head in. Defensively resolute.

CM: Marc Casado - 8/10 - Picked the hole with a beautiful pass to Lewandowski and crunched into tackles in defence.

CM: Pedri - 8/10 - Showed so much composure on the ball and rarely gave it away, proving too smart for Valverde to compete with.

RW: Lamine Yamal - 8/10 - Became the youngest Clasico scorer ever and buzzed around on the right, constantly linking up well with Raphinha and Lopez.

AM: Fermin Lopez - 6/10 - Probably the quietest of Barca's attacking stars but still got forward and provided an extra option.

LW: Raphinha - 8/10 - The Brazilian was hardworking throughout the evening and got his goal contributions late on, setting up Yamal before chipping in himself.

ST: Robert Lewandowski - 9/10 - Lewandowski's goals proved crucial, quickly shocking the hosts in the 54th and 56th minutes.

SUB: Frenkie de Jong (46' for Lopez) - 7/10

SUB: Dani Olmo (46' for Casado) - 6/10

SUB: Gavi (87' for Pedri) - N/A

Subs not used: Sergi Dominguez, Diego Kochen (GK), Wojciech Szczesny (GK), Gerard Martin, Hector Fort, Pablo Torre, Ansu Fati, Pau Victor.

Hansi Flick - 8/10 - Enjoyed a dream debut in El Clasico, overseeing a wonderful second-half display aided by some shocking Madrid defending.

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