A wild Copa clasico's defining moments examined: Red cards, close calls and a spectacular winner

New York Times

28-04-2025

Goals, comebacks and red cards — the latest Clasico had something for everyone.
Even before the final of the Copa del Rey kicked off on Saturday, Real Madrid made their frustrations known after referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea's comments in a pre-match press conference. During the match itself there were all the ingredients for a chaotic, emotional game that finished 3-2 to Barcelona.
Here, The Athletic breaks down the key big moments that defined a wild Clasico.
Let's start with the elephant in the room: Antonio Rudiger's dismissal from the bench, which was an ugly watch.
As extra time winds down, Kylian Mbappe charges forward with the ball but catches Eric Garcia in the face ever so slightly.
Garcia goes down and De Burgos Bengoetxea awards Barcelona a free kick. The Madrid bench almost pour out on to the pitch and objects are thrown in the referee's direction. Replays confirmed later that Rudiger was responsible for launching a projectile.
De Burgos Bengoetxea sends Rudiger off.
A seething Rudiger is held back, first by three Madrid staff members…
… before fellow defenders Ferland Mendy and Jesus Vallejo join in to contain him as he mouths something to the referee.
Rudiger was eventually taken to the stands by an official as play continued. Madrid captain Lucas Vazquez was sent off in the melee too, while Jude Bellingham received his marching orders after full time.
Nursing a potential injury, conceding a late goal and a questionable foul call all contributed to Rudiger's mood. But two marginal decisions that went against Madrid — one that occurred just moments prior to Mbappe's foul on Garcia — are likely to have incensed him too.
In the 118th minute, Brahim Diaz picks out Mbappe with a pass.
Mbappe receives and dribbles past Inigo Martinez, but is slide-tackled from behind by Gavi.
De Burgos Bengoetxea takes a moment before pointing to the spot as Gavi and Barcelona appeal in disbelief. But the referee then notices a flag up for offside on his right and signals for that instead, leaving Madrid's players and bench frustrated.
Replays show that Gavi got a toe on the ball, which may have seen the penalty overturned anyway…
It eventually becomes clear that, before his pass to Mbappe, Diaz was offside when receiving Fran Garcia's pass.
The other moment occurred in first-half stoppage time with the score still at 1-0. Bellingham slips Vinicius Junior in behind Pau Cubarsi in transition.
Vinicius Jr bears down on goal but miscontrols in the box, allowing Wojciech Szczesny to collect — but he ends up on the ground in the process. De Burgos Bengoetxea immediately points to the spot before noticing the offside flag on the far side.
Replays show that Martinez slides into Vinicius Jr, suggesting that the penalty might have stood.
But the semi-automated offside replay shows that Vinicius Jr had gone too early.
Barcelona saw some first-half appeals turned down too, with Dani Ceballos involved in a scuffle with Cubarsi from a Dani Olmo corner that could have ended in a penalty.
Their biggest appeal came late in regulation time with the score at 2-2 and extra time beckoning. Fermin Lopez lays off Cubarsi's header to Pedri, who passes to Raphinha.
The Brazilian carries the ball into the box before going down under pressure from Raul Asencio. Once again, De Burgos Bengoetxea points to the spot immediately. Replays suggest Asencio's back leg may have caught Raphinha.
However, having awarded the penalty with the clock at 95:21, a VAR check continues for more than three minutes before De Burgos Bengoetxea is called to the pitchside monitor.
The zoomed-in replays hint that Raphinha was on his way down with no or minimal contact from Asencio, which convinces the referee to change his decision with the clock at 99:21.
If not for the pre-game controversies, the quality on show would have been this Clasico's headliner.
Barcelona's opener was a brilliant back-to-front move facilitated and finished off by Pedri. They were in control but wasted their chances.
When Carlo Ancelotti brought on Mbappe, Arda Guler and Luka Modric within the first 10 minutes of the second half, it lit the fuse for a Madrid comeback. Their shape changed from a compact 4-4-1-1 to one where all their outfielders bar Rudiger, Asencio and Fran Garcia pushed forward to overload Barcelona's midfield and defence.
Advertisement
Barcelona responded by keeping their front three high, with Olmo joining the attack in transitions, giving them four players against Madrid's three.
It also meant neither team had space to play out from the back and repeatedly went long, a ploy that favoured Madrid. Ancelotti's side pounced on loose balls and forced errors, one of which led to Frenkie De Jong fouling Mbappe at the edge of the box in the 68th minute.
Barcelona's wall to defend the free kick was poorly constructed, daring Mbappe to shoot through the middle without needing to thread the needle. Szczesny was slow to react and Mbappe converted to make it 1-1.
That was followed by Aurelien Tchouameni promptly scoring from Guler's corner. Suddenly, Madrid were in the ascendancy and Barcelona looked flustered.
Both managers' desire to keep the game open, though, meant Hansi Flick's team needed just a moment of quality, and Lamine Yamal provided it. Receiving a pass near the halfway line, with Fran Garcia slow to close him down, the 17-year-old lofts a pass towards Ferran Torres, who is marked by Rudiger.
Despite starting behind the German, Torres sprints ahead of him and dribbles past Thibaut Courtois, who is slow to come off his line…
Torres scores — his sixth goal in this season's competition — into an empty net.
The penalty incident involving Raphinha aside, chances remained at a premium from thereon until an innocuous moment led to the winner.
Martinez's pass to Raphinha on the left wing was intercepted by Federico Valverde, with Modric pouncing on the loose ball. He then looks to pass across the pitch to Diaz, with Jules Kounde (edge of the frame) beginning a run from deep to close him down.
Diaz chooses to let the ball run toward him rather than attacking it and Kounde pounces to intercept. Madrid's defence is too deep and Kounde has the freedom to pass to Raphinha, Lopez or Yamal.
Instead, Kounde shoots and the effort sneaks underneath Courtois into the bottom left corner, winning the game for his team in the 116th minute.
It was a spectacular goal that is etched in Clasico history and it should overshadow everything that came before and after it.