Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts after scoring during a La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Barcelona in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid has ended its recent struggles against Barcelona.

Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham scored as Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in the first clasico of the season on Sunday, halting a four-game losing streak against the Catalan rival.

On top of that joy for the hosts, the victory increased Madrid's league lead over Barcelona to five points after 10 rounds.

There was a scuffle between the bench players from both teams after Barcelona’s Pedri was sent off just before the final whistle. The altercation continued after the game ended, with Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior and Barcelona star forward Lamine Yamal — who was successfully contained by Madrid defenders during the match — among those involved.

Vinícius and Yamal — whose pre-match comments upset some Madrid fans — exchanged words a couple of times during the game. Vinícius gestured against Yamal, using his hands to hint that the Barcelona star was talking too much.

Yamal and Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also got into an altercation after the match.

Vinícius was visibly upset when he was replaced by Rodrygo in the 72nd. He went straight to the locker room before rejoining his teammates on the bench a few minutes later.

Mbappé strikes

France forward Mbappé, who failed to convert a second-half penalty kick, put Madrid ahead halfway through the first half. That came after the VAR had reversed a penalty-kick call and a goal for the hosts in the opening 15 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Mbappé opened the scoring in the 22nd after an assist by Bellingham. Barcelona equalized through Fermín López in the 38th and Bellingham netted the winner in the 43rd.

Mbappé had his penalty kick saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the 52nd.

Madrid has won 12 of its 13 matches this season, with its lone setback a 5-2 loss at Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league in September.

It was the third loss of the season for Barcelona in all competitions. It had also lost this month 2-1 to Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League and 4-1 at Sevilla in the Spanish league.

Yamal was making his third appearance after missing some playing time because of an injury. The youngster couldn’t do much against Madrid defender Álvaro Carreras throughout the match at the Bernabeu.

Mbappé increased his league-leading tally to 11 goals in a breakaway, calmly finding the net with only Szczesny to beat after a nice through ball by Bellingham. It was Mbappé’s 16th goal in his last 13 matches with club and country.

Rashford's assist

Barcelona equalized after a mistake by Madrid midfielder Arda Guler, who lost possession near the area to allow Marcus Rashford to make a run through the left side and find López for an easy strike from close range.

Bellingham put Madrid ahead again five minutes later, finding the open net from near the goal line after Madrid defender Éder Militão headed the ball toward the goal following another nice run and cross by Vinícius.

Bellingham, who missed the first part of the season because of a shoulder injury, had scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday in Madrid’s 1-0 win over Juventus in the Champions League. He was also involved in the play that led to the missed penalty by Mbappé — a handball by Barcelona defender Eric García as he tried to contain Bellingham inside the area.

Mbappé had another goal called off for offside in first-half stoppage time.

Early penalty reversed by VAR

Madrid was awarded a penalty two minutes into the game after a run by Vinícius inside the area but the call was reversed after video review. Vinícius went down after he kicked Yamal's leg while trying to get a shot on goal. The referee initially called a foul on Vinícius but changed his mind after looking at the play again.

Madrid thought it had opened the scoring about 10 minutes later when Mbappé found the net with a long-range shot, but VAR came in again to rule that he was offside when he received the ball.

Pedri was sent off deep into second-half stoppage time after a sliding tackle on Aurélien Tchouaméni.

Redemption for Madrid

Madrid was outscored 16-7 as it lost all clasicos last season across all competitions. It was the first time Barcelona won every clasico in a season that had at least three matches between the rivals.

Barcelona arrived Sunday with injury woes in attack, and coach Hansi Flick had to watch the game from a stadium box after he was shown a red card for protesting in the previous round of games.

Striker Robert Lewandowski was out with a hamstring injury and forward Raphinha stayed on the injury list because of a right leg ailment sustained in late September. Playmaker Dani Olmo and first-choice goalkeeper Joan García had already been ruled out due to injuries.

Raphinha, who was among those involved in the altercation at the end of the match, netted five of the 16 goals that Barcelona scored in the four matches against Madrid last season.

The clasico was played with La Liga still lamenting the collapse of plans to hold a regular-season game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami next month. Madrid was among those opposing the game, saying it altered the fairness of the competition because it would have allowed Barcelona to play an away game in a neutral site.

Earlier Sunday, Mallorca drew 1-1 with Levante.

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