New Delhi:

FC Barcelona came from two goals down to beat arch-rivals Real Madrid 4-3 in a thriller to close in on the La Liga 2024-25 title. Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick for Madrid, but his heroics went in vain as Barcelona bagged their fourth straight win against Real Madrid in the ongoing season.

Mbappe scored twice in the first 14 minutes of the game to put Madrid 2-0 ahead, but Barca staged a comeback before the end of halftime.

Raphinha leads Barcelona’s comeback:

Raphinha scored a brace to lead Barcelona’s brilliant comeback in the first half. Eric Garcia and Lamine Yamal also got on the scoresheet inside the first 45 minutes to dash Real Madrid’s hopes of walking away with crucial three points. Garcia pulled one back for Barcelona in the 19th minute when he headed from a corner to make it 2-1.

Lamine Yamal, who was one of Barcelona’s best players in their run to the Champions League semi-final, made a slow start but found his groove soon against Real Madrid on Sunday. The 17-year-old scored from a brilliant curling effort to slot the ball past Thibaut Courtois in the 32nd minute to equalise for Barcelona. Raphinha then scored twice inside 11 minutes to help Barcelona lead 4-2 at the break.

Mbappe completed his hat-trick after scoring from close range in the 70th minute, sparking hopes of a Real Madrid comeback. However, Barcelona managed to keep Madrid at bay to secure a 4-3 win in the end. Nonetheless, Mbappe became the leading goal-scorer in the La Liga this season with his hat-trick and became the first player to score 39 goals in his debut season for Real Madrid.

The Brazilian winger missed a chance to score his second off a header from a cross from Yamal. However, he completed his brace right at the brink of half time by capitalising on a cut-back from Ferran Torres, who did exceptionally well to steal the ball from Vazquez before setting up the Brazilian.

Barcelona were relentless in their attacks in search of a lead after Yamal’s equaliser, and finally found the breakthrough when Raphinha found himself in a plethora of space on the left of the box after a mix-up between Mbappe and Lucas Vasquez and scored his first goal in the game to put Barca ahead at 3-2.

Barcelona hit four goals inside the first 45 minutes to complete a turnaround as they went on to seal a nail-biting victory in the crucial clash. Mbappe opened the scoring for Real Madrid by converting a penalty in the 5th minute of the game after he was brought down by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. His goal got Madrid off to a flying start in the game.

The French striker netted his second goal nine minutes later after running past the Barcelona defence to capitalise on a through ball from Vinicius Junior and slotting it past Szczesny. With a two-goal lead inside less than 15 minutes, Real Madrid were the favourite to come on top in the 4th El Clasico of the season. However, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona pulled off an amazing comeback.

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