Real Madrid 2-0 Barcelona: 5 talking points as Los Blancos dominate

Goals by Vinicius Junior and Mariano proved more than enough against Barcelona.

Real Madrid managed to break a string of poor results at home in El Clasico by beating Barcelona 2-0 and climbing back to the top of the table in the process.

The Catalans had the better of the match in the first-half as they managed to maintain most of the possession. Unlike previous games under Quique Setién, Barcelona were able to create goal-scoring opportunities.

Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi and Arthur Melo all missed chances to put the Catalans ahead. Thibaut Courtois proved to be one of the heroes of the game as he was able to deny both Messi and Arthur.

The opening ten minutes of the first-half were more of the same before Real Madrid strung together a good run of possession.

With the ball, Madrid were very direct and created panic from the Barcelona backline whenever they attacked. They pressed Barcelona high and quickly won the ball back not letting their opponents breathe.

Setién pulled Arturo Vidal for Martin Braithwaite and the Danish forward almost broke the deadlock and would have had it not been for Courtois. Moments later, Vinicius Junior would open the score.

He took on Pique inside the box down the left and saw his cross be deflected by Gerard Pique and zoom past Marc-Andre ter Stegen who could do nothing but watch. It was an important goal as the Brazilian had squandered a couple of plays leading to groans from the Bernabeu faithful.

Barcelona threw everything they had by bringing in both Ivan Rakitic and Ansu Fati. But Real Madrid defended solidly and stymied the Catalans at every turn. Mariano, who came in late in the game, put the game to bed after scoring the second.

Aside from climbing back atop the standings, perhaps emotionally and mentally, it broke down barriers for a Real Madrid side who needed to win to salvage their season.

Here are five takeaways from the match between Barcelona and Real Madrid.