Barcelona seal Lopetegui’s fate with 5-1 thrashing of Real Madrid

Barcelona fired five past Real Madrid in a dominant display

The forlorn figure of Julen Lopetegui with his hands in his pocket, and the Mediterranean breeze ruffling his hair, will be etched forever in the history of the Camp Nou as Barcelona registered a historic 5-1 victory over Real Madrid without key player Lionel Messi.

The side got off to a best possible start, scoring in the 11th minute. Ivan Rakitić found Jordi Alba in space on the left flank. The 29-year old Spanish left-back exploited the space with his electric pace, and put in a low cross. Philippe Coutinho buried it into the bottom right corner.

Barça had another opportunity, as Real Madrid lost possession just outside the box. Arthur found himself in space, and launched a curling shot towards the top right corner but Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was equal to it.

But the Galácticos were not to hold on for much longer, as Barcelona extended the lead in the 30th minute. Luis Suárez was brought down in the box by Raphaël Varane, and ‘El Pistolero’ accurately rifled the penalty into the bottom left corner to score his first of the night.

Julen Lopetegui tried to save his job with some changes in the break, and Real Madrid responded. After the introduction of Lucas Vázquez, they upped the ante and it culminated in Marcelo pulling one back for the European champions in the 50th minute, but they couldn’t make the most of it.

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But the party just started when Ousmane Dembélé came on to replace Philippe Coutinho. The Frenchman was immediately involved, as Sergi Roberto found Luis Suárez, and the Uruguayan centre-forward scored his second with a brilliant looping header into the top right corner.

But the fight left Los Blancos as Suárez completed his hat-trick in the 83rd minute. Sergi Roberto tackled Sergio Ramos in his own half, and released ‘El Pistolero’, who coolly chipped it over the World Cup Golden Glove winner.

Then, it was just Barça. The side dominated possession, and found many chances. In fact, the score easily could have been 6 or 7-1. But it ended 5-1, as the substitutes Dembélé and Arturo Vidal combined to round off the scoring in the 87th minute.

Messi’s replacement, Rafinha was quite poor as Ousmane Dembélé showed why he was the better option. Luis Suárez gave a masterclass on the art of finishing, as Jordi Alba owned Gareth Bale on the left, while Toni Kroos was quiet for the majority of the game.

Now, the sacking of Julen Lopetegui is inevitable as Barcelona showed why the club is contenders for the treble this season.