By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Real Madrid beat rivals Barcelona 2-1 at home in an entertaining, rain-soaked Clasico on Saturday to go top of La Liga.
Karim Benzema put the champions in charge at a soggy Alfredo di Stefano stadium with a delightful backheel in the 14th minute while a deflected Toni Kroos free kick doubled their lead in the 28th.
Barca hit back on the hour mark through Oscar Mingueza and the defender almost found the equaliser later on, while the Catalans had a huge penalty appeal waved away when Martin Braithwaite fell following a challenge by Ferland Mendy.
Real midfielder Ilaix Moriba hit the crossbar in the fourth minute of added time.
“Winning a Clasico is always special, with how the table is, it’s so tight, it was really important. Today you could say it was a final but there are a lot of games left, they’re a direct rival, but we still have to fight for a lot,” Real Madrid’s Nacho said after the match.
The hosts survived the nail-biting finish to complete a sensational week after beating Liverpool 3-1 in a Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.
Zinedine Zidane’s side joined Atletico Madrid on 66 points and moved top of the table, although Atletico can reclaim first place when they visit Real Betis on Sunday. Barca dropped to third on 65.
Barca, who lost for the first time in the league since early December, dropped to third on 65.