Xavi's Barca Embarrass Real In El Clasico Thrashing
21 March, 2022
Xavi Hernandez got his first El Clasico win as Barcelona manager after his side thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night.
LaLiga
Result: Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona
Date: 20 March 2022
Venue: Camp Nou
Los Blancos were without star forward Karim Benzema through injury, with Carlo Ancelotti handing a start to Rodrygo in the attack while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres got their first El Clasico starts for Barcelona.
Aubameyang went close to bagging the opening goal on 11 minutes after getting on the end of Jordi Alba's cross, but the striker was denied Thibaut Coutois who also kept out Ousmane Dembele's strike seconds later. However, the former Arsenal striker would not be denied on 29 minutes as he broke the deadlock for Barcelona with a glancing header from Dembele's inviting cross.
The lead was doubled 10 minutes later when some slack defending in the box allowed Ronald Araújo to head home Dembele's corner unmarked in the six-yard area.
Los Blancos, meanwhile, struggled to fashion any openings of their own as Vinicius and Rodrygo did not get any joy down the flanks in the opening 45 minutes.
Ancelotti responded with a double change at the start of the second half, with Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal making way for Eduardo Camavinga and Mariano Diaz.
However, the Bernabeu was silenced two minutes into the second half when a swift counter-attack ended with Aubameyang teeing up Torres, who placed the ball into the top corner.
The rout continued as the Video Assistant Referee was called upon to overturn the assistant referee's decision to flag Aubameyang offside after his impressive finish over Courtois on 51 minutes.
Aubameyang did have a chance to complete his hat-trick after the hour mark but he skewed his effort horribly wide at the far post after being set up by Torres.
That proved to be Aubameyang's final involvement as he made way for off-season signing Memphis Depay while Gavi replaced Frenkie de Jong for the final 25 minutes.
Los Blancos did have a couple sights at goal in the latter parts of the half but without Benzema, they lacked a certain presence up to as the Catalans held out for the win and clean sheet.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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