Barcelona scores 4 past Real Madrid; first El Clasico win in over 2 years

Xavi Hernandez’s FC Barcelona had a lot of fun against a Karim Benzema-less Real Madrid, climb to third in La Liga table

Barcelona’s losing run against Real Madrid finally ended Sunday as the Catalan club enjoyed a stunning 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and showed its title hopes in the Spanish league may not be over yet.

Barcelona kept its recent momentum going under coach Xavi Hernández in the last “clásico” of the season. The win ended Barcelona’s five-match losing streak to its rival and maintained an outside chance of fighting for the title after a difficult start to its first season without Lionel Messi.

The victory was its first against Madrid since 2019 and came in style — like a few others Barcelona enjoyed with Messi in his prime.

It was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who thrived this time, scoring twice to continue his great streak since being signed in the final minutes of the winter transfer window. Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres added a goal each to give Barcelona its seventh win in the last eight matches in all competitions.

“Of course we didn’t expect this scoreline, but we did everything we intended to do from the start,” Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets said. “Everything went our way and we could have scored even more goals.”

The result moved Barcelona within 12 points of league leader Madrid with nine rounds to go, and it could further cut the gap to nine points if it wins its game in hand against Rayo Vallecano.

“If we have a minimum chance, we will keep fighting,” Busquets said. “We know it’s going to be hard, but in soccer anything can happen.”