Barcelona secured a Copa del Rey semi-final advantage with a slender 1-0 victory over fierce rivals Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday evening.
Eder Militao inadvertently put the ball in his own net to decide the match, with the Catalan side now fancied to reach the final. The hosts actually enjoyed a quick start and thought they had claimed a deserved lead as Karim Benzema chested down and finished expertly. The lineman's flag cut his celebrations short, though.
The officials were then at the heart of things again as Barcelona bundled home an opener only to see the strike ruled out by another offside decision. VAR intervened and gave the goal to the relief of Xavi - a strike that eventually decided the clash.
Here are five talking points from a thrilling showdown in Spain:
VAR gets things spot on
Whilst VAR has its critics - and justifiably so - Barcelona boss Xavi will certainly be thankful that it was in use as his side claimed the lead. Eduardo Camavinga had the ball robbed from him in midfield by Ferran Torres as the ex- Manchester City star was allowed to trot toward the Real Madrid goal.
He then played in Franck Kessie, whose effort bounced off of Eder Militao before finding the net. The goal was initially ruled offside but a brief VAR check overturned that decision
VAR showing a rare positive, for once.
Who was your man-of-the-match in Barcelona's win? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Busquets makes history
While Ivorian Kessie looks set to be the present and future of the Barcelona midfield, one man who might not be at the Camp Nou much longer is Sergio Busquets. The Spaniard has been linked with joining Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr.
Before any potential exit, however, he has become the all-time appearance maker in El Clasico. His outing on Thursday evening marked his 46th appearance in the historical fixture, surpassing previous record-holders Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos.
With at least two more El Clasico's set to come before the end of the season, he could yet extend his advantage even further.
Benzema struggles
From one veteran to another now, Benzema arguably headed into El Clasico with a point to prove. Following a sensational 2022, the Frenchman wasn't granted a place in the FIFPro World XI, while he was also beaten to the Men's Player of the Year Award by Lionel Messi.
He appeared to take exception to those decisions with a number of cryptic social media posts. It appeared the best way to respond was with a winning Clasico performance...but he struggled.
Aside from his disallowed goal, the striker struggled to get involved after being kept at arms' length by the visitors. He will hope to regain his scoring boots ahead of the weekend's clash with Real Betis.
Barcelona of old no more
Once upon a time, Barcelona would have travelled to the Bernabeu and passed their opponents off the pitch. Or at least tried to. The Catalan giants approached the game slightly differently this time.
Xavi's side were happy to relinquish possession to their hosts and invited them onto them to be met with a stout defence before springing counter-attacks. That proved effective a number of times with Camavinga's errors twice taken advantage of.
Barcelona should have wrapped the game up midway through the second-half on the counter - only for Kessi's goalbound effort to be blocked by teammate Ansu Fati. While the style of play will not win any awards, it is certainly effective given Barca's LaLiga advantage and their win on enemy territory.
Real face nightmare scenario
While Real Madrid are among the favourites to win yet another European title this term, it is fair to say that their domestic season is not going the way that many would have hoped. They already sit seven points off the pace in the LaLiga title race and their hopes of claiming the Copa del Rey now appear under threat.
Of course, they still have another 90 minutes - and potentially more - to haul themselves back into the tie against their rivals. However, it is not going to be an easy task by any stretch of the imagination at the Camp Nou in a few weeks' time.
The Catalans have only lost once at home all campaign, that coming against Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stages. Should they fail to turn the tie around then Real's season looks set to become a failure on the domestic front at the very least.
