Barcelona had the ball, the shots and the noise. Real Madrid had Kylian Mbappe, and on Sunday night at the Camp Nou that turned out to be the better deal. Two goals from the French forward, the second with three minutes left, gave Jose Mourinho a 2-1 win in his first Clasico since returning to Madrid and handed Hansi Flick's side their first La Liga defeat of the season.
A goal Madrid did not deserve, and one they did
The opener arrived against the run of play shortly before half-time. Bernardo Silva found Yan Diomande on the left, nobody doubled up on him, and his low ball was cleared by Gerard Martin straight into Mbappe, who took it off his thigh and past Joan Garcia. Lucky, yes. But it came from exactly the sort of transition Madrid had been waiting for all evening.
Barcelona pulled level in the 61st minute from a short corner. Pedri dummied, Raphinha took the disguised pass and drove it across Andriy Lunin for his 13th league goal of the campaign. For a spell after that, Madrid looked like a team hanging on to the ropes.
Then Mourinho made his last change count. Eduardo Camavinga came on in the 80th minute, and barely a minute into his night he won the ball back, ran into the box, beat Pau Cubarsi and squared for Mbappe to finish into an empty net in the 87th. Flick had thrown on Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus in search of a winner. It was Jesus who lost the ball that started the break.
Mourinho's plan: concede the ball, keep the shape
The numbers tell the story of a match Barcelona controlled and still lost. They held 62 per cent of possession, completed 644 passes to Madrid's 385 and had 17 shots to nine. Madrid's expected goals figure was higher anyway, 1.98 to 1.26, built on five counter-attacks to Barcelona's two.
Madrid sat in a mid-to-low block with Federico Valverde at right-back to help deal with Anthony Gordon, and Marc Cucurella given the job of shadowing Lamine Yamal. Cucurella fouled him often and stayed out of the referee's book until stoppage time. Yamal did get one clear chance just after the opener and scuffed it wide. Madrid were also without Thibaut Courtois, who pulled out late with flu, and the suspended Vinicius Junior.
The milestone, and what it does to the table
The double took Mbappe to 100 goals for Real Madrid, reached in his 116th appearance. He was not interested in dwelling on it. "I'm very happy, everyone knows I like to score goals," he said afterwards, "but I think today this is just a detail, because the most important thing is the team's victory." He now has 14 goals in all competitions this season.
A fifth straight win lifts Madrid to third, three points behind Barcelona and one behind Atletico Madrid. Barcelona's unbeaten record is gone and so is some of the aura around their high line, which Madrid's runners kept finding. Mourinho's side travel to Santander next Sunday.
Match facts: Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid, La Liga, Spotify Camp Nou, Sunday 25 October 2026. Goals: Kylian Mbappe 41' (Real Madrid), Raphinha 61' (Barcelona), Kylian Mbappe 87' (Real Madrid). Managers: Hansi Flick (Barcelona), Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid). Next: Real Madrid away at Santander.
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