Barcelona mounted a spectacular comeback to beat Real Madrid 4-3 on Sunday and move to the brink of the LaLiga title.
Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick for Los Blancos but Raphinha’s double and goals from Lamine Yamal, Eric Garcia and Fermin Lopez gave Barcelona a seven-point lead on reigning champions Madrid with three matches remaining.
Hansi Flick’s side were knocked out of the Champions League in the semifinals by Inter Milan on Tuesday and risked their season collapsing if Madrid beat them, but they resisted after Mbappe’s early brace.
Barcelona battled back to claim a fourth Clasico victory from four meetings this season, showing their dominance over Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Real Madrid had made the perfect start to what is expected to be the Italian coach’s final Clásico at the helm.
Mbappe earned a penalty when he was scythed down by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, although the Catalans complained in vein the French forward was offside in the build-up.
The striker beat Szczesny, who dived the right way and got his fingers to it, but could not keep it out.
In the 14th minute Mbappe doubled Madrid’s advantage with a lethal finish after Vinicius Junior played him through, with Barcelona complaining again about a perceived foul on Yamal earlier in the move.
It was his 26th LaLiga strike, taking him past Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski on 25 at the top of the scoring charts, and his 38th of the season across all competitions, beating Ivan Zamorano’s club record of 37 in a first season with Los Blancos.
Just as they have done on so many occasions this season, Flick’s spirited young Barcelona fought their way back in front with a stirring comeback.
Thibaut Courtois tipped Gerard Martin’s drive over, and from the corner Eric Garcia headed home Ferran Torres’ flick-on.
Torres flicked wide from close range with an improvised effort and Fede Valverde was booked for a crunching tackle on whirlwind teenager Yamal.
Madrid could not stop the 17-year-old star from levelling with a cultured bending effort beyond Courtois after Torres laid the ball off to him in the box.
