The classic continues to have master. FC Barcelona did not need to show their best version to endorse another thrashing (0-3) at Real Madrid and thus end the unbeaten streak in the League that they had maintained since December. The leader emerges as the leader of Di Stéfano, with a 12-point advantage over the whites with nine games to go.
There are already fourteen classics that Barça has won and the balance is scandalous: 49 goals scored and only 7 conceded. And in fact, Real Madrid went back to zero, unable to penetrate Cata Coll’s goal, whose biggest scare was a rejection by Irene Paredes in the first half that was about to to enter one’s own door.
Barça won, but did not shine. The Blaugrana did not have their best day, surely victims of the accumulation of matches. At certain moments, it even seemed more like an inconsequential match with the less usual ones, thinking about Thursday’s Champions League commitment, than a classic that could leave the League doomed. And yet, the hegemony was total. Real Madrid continues to be several rungs below Barça and has already lost its fourteenth game in a classic. After ten minutes, he was ahead on the scoreboard thanks to a returning Fridolina Rolfö. An incursion on the right side in which Graham Hansen and Ona Batlle combined, at the end returning to his place, the right-back, which the Catalan defense sent into the center of the area for Rolfö to finish completely alone. Real Madrid’s defense suffered a lot in every Blaugrana attack. The visitors tried again with a clever move, this time with Graham Hansen and Claudia Pina as protagonists, but Montcada’s shot, the main novelty in Giráldez’s eleven, went wide. Misa also avoided the second by first stopping a long-range shot from Aitana and later pulling off a masterful foot, in the purest futsal style, also from the Ballon d’Or. And Salma Paralluelo crashed a pipe onto the crossbar on another great occasion to extend the score. At Real Madrid, the only clear chance was an unfortunate rejection by Irene Paredes in the 25th minute that was about to sneak into Cata Coll’s goal.
The second half continued with more of the same, a Barça that transmitted a certain apathy and a Real Madrid without arguments to be able to stand up to the Blaugrana. And just like in the first, the Catalan team also found Misa’s goal ten minutes after the restart. Graham Hansen ran down the right wing with the ball and served the chewed-up goal to Aitana Bonmatí, who came in from behind to beat Misa.
As the minutes progressed, the distance between Barça and Real Madrid increased and the Blaugrana took advantage of this to decide the game by the fast track. Graham Hansen scored another goal in his involuntary race for the pichichi by cutting in the area in front of Olga Carmona and Ivana Andrés and finding the hole to beat the white goalkeeper. Giráldez started to move the bench thinking about the important Champions League match, brought in footballers such as Mariona, Alexia or Vicky López, and gave rest to the players with more minutes such as Aitana or Keira Walsh. Alberto Toril also made changes looking for a reaction and the entry of Hayley Raso gave Real Madrid more danger. The Australian forced Cata Coll to show off in the 89th to stop a powerful shot, but without much to do in front of the confident Barça goalkeeper. Barça came out more in the lead than Di Stéfano, but with almost no time to savor the new triumph. On Thursday (6.45 p.m.) they must secure a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League after the tight 1-2 first leg against Brann.
