Six stats from Real Madrid’s 3-1 Clásico win over Barcelona

Real Madrid secured a fifth Clásico win from the last six in LaLiga as Carlo Ancelotti’s side overcame Barcelona with goals from Karim Benzema, Fede Valverde and Rodrygo Goes, while Ferran Torres scored for the visitors.

Here are three stats that help to tell us the story of the game.

11%: Percentage of Fede Valverde’s shots from outside the box this season which have gone in

Not only did Fede Valverde score his fifth goal of the season against Barcelona, but he scored only the second goal outside of the box in a Clásico for Real Madrid this century as he hit a rasping effort into the bottom corner of Marc-André ter Steven’s net.

In doing so, he scored his second attempt from outside the box this campaign from 18 attempts from outside the 18-yard box. That means his conversion rate with efforts from outside the penalty area sits at an impressive 11.1%.

The last man to score outside the box for Real Madrid in a Clásico was Raúl González Blanco and this young Uruguayan may hope to go on and have a similar impact to the legendary number seven.

2008: The last time two consecutive penalties in El Clásico fixtures went to Real Madrid

Rodrygo Goes stepped up to score his first ever penalty for Real Madrid, and in doing so followed Sergio Ramos in scoring a Clásico penalty, with the defender being the last man to do so in October 2021.

This is the first time that consecutive penalties in El Clásico have gone in Real Madrid’s favour since 2008, when Ruud van Nistlerooy scored penalties for Los Blancos in March 2007 and May 2008 in a 3-3 draw and a 4-1 win respectively.

It also gives us some symmetry, as the last 10 penalties in this fixture in LaLiga have seen five awarded to each team. Of those, seven were shared between certain men named Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with Luis Suárez, Sergio Ramos and now Rodrygo Goes being the other scorers.

6: Clásicos without defeat for Ferland Mendy

It’s been some start to life in the Spanish capital for French full-back Ferland Mendy, and with this win he secured a sixth consecutive Clásico as he remains yet to be beaten by Barcelona. Only Steve McManaman (7) played more before eventually falling to defeat.

The left-back created two chances against Barcelona, while also making five recoveries, one interception and winning three of his five duels. He may have been slacking slightly for Barcelona’s consolation goal, but it was a strong display on the left of defence.

Given the question marks surrounding him at the start of the season, he now seems to have nailed down his starting spot for another season. Especially when he comes up against a team called Barcelona.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

1959: The last time Real Madrid gave up a two-goal lead in the Clásico

The comeback kings of Europe were not willing to give Barcelona a shot in this Clásico, the third of the last four meetings between the two teams at the Bernabéu that saw Real Madrid take a two-goal lead. Of those three, only once were Barcelona able to narrow the distance in what ended a 2-1 defeat at the Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano.

The last time Real Madrid gave up a two-goal lead to draw or lose in a Clásico was in 1959, when Barcelona came back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg in which Ferenc Puskás and Enrique Mateo were on the scoresheet for the home team.

Barcelona put the pressure on late on at the Bernabéu, but they did not make Real Madrid sweat too much and their composure counted.

18: Shots against Real Madrid, the highest this season

There must be recognition for Ukranian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who narrowly missed out on becoming only the third goalkeeper this century to keep a clean sheet in a LaLiga Clásico as Ferran Torres scored late on for Barcelona.

With four saves, he impressed and Barcelona wasted plenty of chances of their own. With 18 shots in their favour, the Catalans managed to have only five on target and will feel that with 2.27 xG, compared to Real Madrid’s 1.44, they really should have done better at the Bernabéu.

The last time a team managed more shots against Real Madrid was in the Champions League final in Paris, when Carlo Ancelotti’s side were once again the victors despite facing 20 shots from Liverpool that day.

3/5: Toni Kroos had more attempted and more successful tackles than any other player

The German produced one of his best displays of the season against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek and he did so again on an even bigger stage against Barcelona on Sunday afternoon, continuing to boss the show.

With three successful tackles from five, he nullified the threat of Pedri and every time Barcelona looked to bring the ball through the middle, frustrating them and providing cover and comfort for Aurelién Tchouaméni.

His 49 successful passes was also the highest of any Real Madrid player, with one key pass coming as he set up Karim Benzema in the build-up to the goal which opened the deadlock as Real Madrid defeated Barcelona.