Barcelona took a huge step Sunday toward securing the Spanish league title with a 4-3 win over Real Madrid — despite Kylian Mbappe’s hat trick in a mesmerizing ‘clasico’ — and opened a seven-point lead over its second-placed rival with three matches remaining.
Raphinha scored twice, and Lamine Yamal and Eric Garcia added a goal each for Barcelona, which trailed 2-0 after Mbappé scored in the fifth and 14th minutes at Montjuic Stadium.
The hosts evened the match just over the half-hour mark, and went on to lead 4-2 at halftime in a sensational recovery.
Mbappé completed his hat trick in the 70th, but Madrid wasn’t able to come back in a likely fatal blow to its hopes of successfully defending its title.
Mbappé became the league’s leading scorer with 27 goals, two more than Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, who did not start Sunday.
Another Barcelona thriller
It was another thrilling match involving Barcelona, who were eliminated by Inter Milan in extra time in the semifinals of the Champions League on Tuesday. Barcelona lost to the Italians 7-6 on aggregate.
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The Catalan club has won every match against Madrid this season. It had already won 4-0 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the first league match in October, 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final in January, and 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final last month.
The result, which virtually ends Madrid’s hopes of finishing the season with a title, adds pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is rumored to be leaving the club to take over Brazil’s national team. Former Madrid player Xabi Alonso, who recently announced he is leaving Bayer Leverkusen, is widely expected to be Madrid’s next coach.
Needing to win to get back into the title race, Madrid got off to a great start before Barcelona responded.
García started Barcelona’s comeback with a header off a corner kick in the 19th, Yamal equalized with a curling shot into the far corner in the 32nd, and Raphinha scored in the 34th and 45th minutes for Barcelona to lead 4-2 at halftime in a stunning turnaround.
It was a mistake by Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsí that led to the early penalty converted by Mbappé in the first Madrid goal, and Mbappé added another goal in a breakaway to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Both teams had goals disallowed in the final minutes.
Barcelona is unbeaten in 16 straight league matches, with its last loss coming against Atlético Madrid late last year.
Madrid, eliminated by Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, had won four in a row in the league.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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