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The 261st edition of El Clásico saw Barcelona come from behind to beat Real Madrid 4-3 and take a big step towards winning La Liga, also beating Los Blancos in the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey finals. Real Madrid showed determination from the first whistle when needed and were awarded an early penalty when Kylian Mbappe pounced on a mistake by Pau Kubarsi and was brought down by Wojciech Szczesny.
The Frenchman then beat the Barca goalkeeper with a pinpoint shot, despite him getting his hands on the ball, to put Los Blancos ahead just five minutes from time. Mbappe added another before the quarter-hour mark, simply staying close and latching onto Vinicius Junior's through ball before coolly deflecting a shot past Szczesny.
Moments after Rafinha's header, Real Madrid thought they had another penalty, but it was disallowed and instead Rafinha was punished for another mistake when he out-pocketed Lucas Vázquez and fired home from close range. The action was relentless, and Mbappe's goal was ruled out for offside just minutes before the break. Carlo Ancelotti duly made a double substitution before the restart, although it had little effect on the overall flow as Yamal soon sent the ball into the visitors' net again, but his goal was ruled out for offside before Rafinha was caught out. Mbappe then went close to scoring into the bottom corner, but eventually got his hat-trick when Vinicius raced on to Luka Modric's pass and laid the ball home for Mbappe to convert.
Rafinha missed a great chance before Jamal and Ferran were both denied, but debutant Victor Muñoz failed to equalise late on and Los Blancos' celebrations were again halted by an offside flag. So, despite Fermín López's late goal being ruled out for handball, Barcelona won to extend their lead in La Liga to seven points, meaning they need just one win from their final three games to clinch the title and complete their treble. They also ended Real Madrid's four-match winning streak in the league.