Real Madrid: Top 5 performances from the 2-1 win in ‘El Clasico’

LW Vinicius Junior

Although Toni Kroos earned the official honor, in my humble opinion, nobody executed a more pivotal and captivating Clasico performance than Vinicius Junior. He was the hero of last year’s second Clasico en route to Real’s title triumph, scoring the 1-0. In this equally important Clasico in the La Liga title race, Vini did not score, but he came close to directly creating a goal. And he did create the second goal by winning the free kick with some of the sickest dribbling skills you’ll see in La Liga this month.

As a whole, Vinicius led Real Madrid with three key passes and three dribbles completed. Now that’s what you call making an impact. It seemed like every time Real had a counterattack, Vini was there running off the shoulder. And Barcelona could not handle him.

GK Thibaut Courtois

Vinicius was crucial to Real Madrid offensively, but Thibaut Courtois was just as vital to Los Blancos defensively. He made a few great, game-saving stops to ensure Los Merengues would hold onto their 2-1 advantage. Even at the beginning of the match, Courtois reached out to stop a low cross that would have almost certainly resulted in a goal.

Courtois’ weekly brilliance is still overlooked by mainstream pundits, but regular observers of La Liga understand how crucial the Belgian international is to Real’s success. Once again, Real would not have won a tough league matchup without the contributions of their man between the posts.