Photo: Collected
Jude Bellingham snatched Real Madrid a dramatic 3-2 Clasico win over champions Barcelona on Sunday to take them 11 points clear at the top of La Liga with six matches remaining.
Los Blancos twice came from behind with Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez netting to level Andreas Christensen and Fermin Lopez strikes, before Bellingham rammed home the winner in stoppage time to virtually guarantee his team the title.
Barcelona, second, bounced back with a strong performance after their Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain but their last stand was demolished by Bellingham.
Madrid showed the same grit to stay in the match as they did midweek against Manchester City on the way to the final four in Europe, before Bellingham's knock-out blow left the Santiago Bernabeu crowd delighted.
The England international, Madrid's top scorer with 21 goals across all competitions, netted twice in Madrid's Clasico win over Barcelona in October and is shining in his first season in Spain.
"We had a great night with our fans, something we all deserved, we took a huge step towards La Liga," Vazquez, key in all three Madrid goals, told Real Madrid TV.
"We've had a very good season, we're on a very good path, now we just have to polish it off and we'll go for everything."
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made three changes from the side that beat City, with Eduardo Camavinga moving to left-back to replace Ferland Mendy, while Luka Modric started in midfield.
Madrid's penalty-saving hero against City, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, made an early mistake to hand Barcelona the lead.
The Ukrainian strayed from his line to try and deal with a corner but got nowhere near the ball and Christensen nodded into the empty net.
However Madrid were quickly level through Vinicius, who fired over a fine chance before levelling from the spot.
The sensational Vazquez escaped Joao Cancelo far too easily and was tripped in the area by 17-year-old Barca centre-back Pau Cubarsi.
Vinicius rolled home from the spot for his 19th goal of the season across all competitions.
Barcelona were not deterred and made inroads down their right flank with Lamine Yamal giving Camavinga a torrid time.
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