Real Madrid 0-4 FC Barcelona: Viva la vida!

Up and up. Paradise. Miracles. Magic… Barça had Coldplay on their shirts this evening, and so many of their song titles can describe the way their fans are feeling right now. A Head Full of Dreams. Viva la Vida!

What a week this has been! It was no secret that Barça are playing some simply magnificent football under Hansi Flick this season, but everyone was saying that real test was going to be the two games this week. Well, if anyone had their doubts before, they certainly don’t any more!

On Wednesday, Barça laid to rest the ghosts of so many painful defeats to Bayern Munich with a fabulous 4-1 victory. And now, after losing all four of their last competitive meetings with the old enemy Real Madrid, they have absolutely, totally and utterly conquered the Santiago Barnabéu to the tune of a resounding 4-0 victory.

Following a tight and goalless first half, the blaugrana machine was pumping full blast in the second, with two goals from the insatiable Robert Lewandowski to set things in motion, and Lamine Yamal and Raphinha finishing off the annihilation.

The Catalans surge into a six-point lead at the top of the table, but best of all, the way things are going right now, there is every reason to believe that the club is going to be celebrating its 125th anniversary in very spectacular style!

Right from the off, this was a game of extraordinary quality. The intensity from both sides was immense, with barely a minute going by without something happening at one end or the other.

Barça lived up to their pre-game promise to give everything. They were conjuring up chance after chance after chance, with Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha coming especially close to claiming the opening goal.

Real Madrid started off in a party mood too, hungrily looking to lap up the space that Barça’s advanced defensive line was leaving open at the back. But that’s easier said than done against the side with by far the most offside decisions in their favour in La Liga. Hansi Flick works a lethal offside trap, and time and again Madrid were frustrated, including the moment Iñaki Peña made a stunning save when Jude Bellingham looked certain to score, and also when Kylian Mbappé and the Bernabéu thought they did have a goal, only for VAR to rule his effort out.

Perhaps Barça’s most impressive player of the whole first half had been Marc Casadó. Mature, influential, inspired… And it was he who produced the breakthrough on 54 minutes.

Out of nothing, he played Lewandowski clean through on goal. Andrii Lunin had been solid in the Madrid goal to this point, but there was nothing he could do to prevent the Pole from scoring, and Barça were a goal to the good in El Clásico!

And just two minutes later and the lead was doubled! Alejandro Balde down the left wing, a killer cross to the ever-available Lewy, and the headed finish was an absolute work of art!

Following those two brilliant finishes, Lewandowski then had two far simpler chances to round off a famous hat-trick and managed to miss them both. Not even he gets it right every time.

Madrid, fresh from a similar situation against Dortmund that they had ended up winning 5-2, still believed they could repeat the trick. Another great Iñaki save, another Mbappé goal offside, Bellingham coming scaringly close… The chances were there, but there was no question which side was on top, and wasn’t the one wearing white.

Barça needed one more goal to lay to rest any chance of Real Madrid extending their 42-match unbeaten run. And Lamine Yamal was the man to provide it. With the home defence all over the place, the youngster slammed a gorgeous finish into the top right corner and that was 3-0.

And if that wasn’t enough, there was more to come! Raphinha, with the cheekiest of chipped finishes put some samba-flavoured icing on the cake. 4-0! Simply unbelievable.

By now, the only sound that could be heard in the stadium was coming from the Culers in the away end, enjoying a chorus of the Barça anthem and celebrating yet another massive win at the place they like to win the best. Força Barça and Viva la Vida!