El Clasico: Five things we learned from FC Barcelona’s dramatic win over Real Madrid

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Barcelona came back from a goal down to secure a 2-1 win in the El Clasico over Real Madrid on Sunday (March 19).

With the dramatic win, the Cules completed their third win of the season over their arch-rivals and are now sitting comfortably at the summit of the La Liga table, with a sizeable lead of 12 points over Real Madrid. Here are the five things we learned from their dramatic win-

Barcelona getting closer to the title

By winning this game against their closest challenger in the title race, FC Barcelona have moved 12 points ahead of Real Madrid with 12 rounds to play. That is a significant margin and no team in the history of La Liga has ever failed to win the title when boasting such a large lead in the standings. Despite the 12-point advantage, Barça are taking nothing for granted just yet. Captain Sergio Busquets stated after the game, "We know there are 12 matches to go and, even though we have a large lead, we have to keep this up."

Kessié is becoming increasingly important for Barça

Franck Kessié's 92nd-minute winner was his first-ever goal in La Liga and emotion poured through him as he celebrated it. The 26-year-old had an up-and-down first half of the season following his transfer from AC Milan, but is becoming increasingly important in Xavi's system and ElClasico was the 11th La Liga match in a row in which he featured, after he'd only played in seven of the first 15 games of the campaign.

Alejandro Balde is one of a kind

It was Kessié who scored the winning goal, but the assist shouldn't be forgotten. Alejandro Balde did brilliantly to burst inside the penalty area and to pick out the midfielder on the far side of the box for his first-ever assist in ElClasico, and surely not his last. The 19-year-old left-back is having a brilliant season for FC Barcelona and this was his fifth assist in LaLiga Santander of the season.

That makes him the defender with the most assists in the competition, while he has even provided more league assists than any other teenager in Europe's top five divisions in 2022/23. Balde played with confidence throughout Sunday's El Clasico, and is clearly a player who can deliver on big occasions regardless of his age and experience.

Sergi Roberto shining in the midfield

Over the years, Sergi Roberto's incredible versatility has seen him deployed in various positions for FC Barcelona. While he is a midfielder first and foremost, the Catalan and La Masia product has spent a lot of his career at right-back, so much so that it even became rare for him to be used in his natural position.

However, Xavi is playing the 31-year-old in midfield as much as he can and this is paying off. In the absence of Pedri, it was Sergi Roberto who joined Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong in midfield for ElClasico and he paid his coach back with the equaliser right on the stroke of half-time. That was Roberto's fourth goal this La Liga season, as many as he'd scored in his previous four seasons combined, so it's clear that Xavi's decision to play the Catalan in midfield is bearing fruit.

It isn't easy to get past Militao

Even though he was on the losing side, Eder Militao can leave Barcelona with his head held high. Real Madrid's Brazilian centre-back was excellent in this game, finishing with five clearances, four blocked shots, two interceptions and two completed tackles, as well as winning all his aerial duels.

He largely kept Robert Lewandowski quiet and lived up to the praise he recently received from his coach Carlo Ancelotti, who called him the best centre-back in world football right now. If it hadn't been for Militao, Barça might have found their winner well before the 92nd minute.

(with inputs from agency)