Real Madrid snatched a precious 2-1 win away to Barcelona in the Clasico at the Camp Nou, in the tenth round of the Spanish league. Kylian Mbappe struck twice to hand the Royal club three vital points and trim the gap to their Catalan rivals (27 points) at the summit to three.
The timing could hardly have been more delicate for either side, Barcelona especially. The hosts came in looking to bounce back from their 4-2 midweek defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, while Real wanted to close on the leaders. A home win would have opened up a nine-point cushion.
Both sides started cautiously, trading attempts that led nowhere. Arda Guler threatened the Barcelona goal early on, and Anthony Gordon answered with a shot that Andriy Lunin pushed away.
Raphinha wasted more than one opening of his own. Hansi Flick then faced an emergency in the 29th minute, forced into a change when Gavi went down injured and Alejandro Balde came on in his place.
Mbappe put Real ahead in the 41st minute, just before the break. Gerard Martin tried to clear a cross from Diomande, only for the ball to rebound off him, strike the French forward and roll into the net.
Barcelona turned up the heat after the restart and levelled through Raphinha in the 61st minute, his shot from inside the box arriving after a perfectly weighted pass from Pedri.
Real regained the lead with three minutes left. Eduardo Camavinga drove a swift counter-attack and slipped the ball to Mbappe, who buried his second of the night.