Real Madrid, the typical leader
With the victory in Montjuic against Barcelona, Real Madrid regained the lead in the League, which before the Clásico was in the hands of Girona. Barça, in fact, was close to occupying that position until midway through the second half, when Jude Bellingham appeared first to tie the game and then to wrap it in wrapping paper for the whites, who emerged as leaders of their eternal rival’s field.
In total, Carlo Ancelotti’s team has been the leader in eight of the eleven league matches played to date. Which brings his total tally to 1,145 games as first classified in the Spanish League. A fact that makes them the rightful leader of the competition, with Barcelona a considerable distance away (810 matches as first), and Atlético in third place (293). Since the start of the League, in the 28-29 season, Madrid has been first in 38.15% of the matches, far ahead of its historical rivals. And this despite the fact that the Madrid club went 21 seasons without winning the League, from 32-33 to 53-54, a period that included the suspension of the tournament due to the Civil War.
1,800 wins in 3,001 games The victory in the Classic also marked Madrid’s 1,800th victory in its 3,001 League games, a figure that only Barcelona and Athletic also have. This means that Madrid has won 59.98% of its league games, with 600 draws (19.99%) and 601 defeats (20.02%).
In Barcelona like at home
Saturday’s victory in Montjuic also marked the third in the last four League Classics played in the Barça fiefdom. In 2020-21, the whites won 1-3 at a Camp Nou without an audience still due to the restrictions. Due to the covid pandemic. In the following season, 1-2 with goals from Alaba and Lucas Vázquez. On Saturday the same score was repeated thanks to Bellingham’s double, a victory that continues the victory achieved in the second leg of the semi-finals of the last edition of the Copa del Rey, a resounding 0-4 with a goal from Vinicius and a hat-trick from Benzema to raise the tally of white victories to four of the last five Clásicos played in Barcelona.