Mbappé Scores Twice as Real Madrid Beat Barcelona 2–1 at Camp Nou to End Leaders’ Perfect Start

Kylian Mbappé scored twice, in the 41st minute and again late in the second half, as Real Madrid won 2–1 at Camp Nou on Sunday to hand Barcelona their first league defeat of the season. Raphinha equalized for the home side in the 61st minute, but Mbappé’s second goal cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to three points.

By Davies Daily Staff Reports · Sunday, October 25, 2026

Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2–1 at Camp Nou on Sunday, with Kylian Mbappé scoring both of the visitors’ goals in the first league Clásico of the season. Barcelona had won their opening nine matches in La Liga; the defeat is their first of the league season, though they stay top of the table.

Barcelona 1, Real Madrid 2

Real Madrid played without their first-choice goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois was ruled out with a flu-like illness, and Andriy Lunin started in his place. Barcelona lost teenage defender Xavi Espart to an injury in the 29th minute and brought on Alejandro Balde. The first goal came in the 41st minute. Barcelona centre back Gerard Martín attempted a clearance inside his own box, and the ball deflected off Mbappé and into the net from close range, putting Real Madrid ahead 1–0. Lamine Yamal had a chance to equalize just before half-time but put his shot wide.

Barcelona leveled in the 61st minute. From a quick corner, Pedri found Raphinha in space in the box, and Raphinha’s shot beat Lunin and found the corner. Real Madrid brought on Eduardo Camavinga in the 80th minute, and the winning move followed: Jude Bellingham skipped past a Barcelona player and back-heeled the ball to Camavinga, whose run in behind the defence ended with a square pass across the box that Mbappé finished into an open goal. Reuters and USA Today recorded the winning goal in the 87th minute; Vavel and VivaBarça recorded it in the 88th minute.

The second goal took Mbappé to 11 league goals this season, and reports in Spain and elsewhere noted that the winner was also his 100th goal for Real Madrid. Barcelona pressed for a second equalizer in the closing minutes, and Yamal went close again with a powerful strike that sailed inches wide of Lunin’s post, but the match finished 2–1.

Real Madrid played the match without the suspended Vinícius Júnior, and their stand-in goalkeeper had work to do: Lunin, making his first appearance of the season, was credited with a strong hand save from a Gerard Martín header before he was beaten by Raphinha’s equalizer. Barcelona assigned Marc Cucurella to mark Yamal, and Spanish reports said the winger was kept quiet for long stretches of the match. The substitutions ran late on both sides: Denzel Dumfries replaced Federico Valverde in the 62nd minute and Frenkie de Jong came on for Fermín López in the 74th for Barcelona, who also brought on Gabriel Jesus for Raphinha and Karim Adeyemi for Anthony Gordon in the 86th minute, a minute before the winning goal. Daily Sports reported it was the first time in three years that Real Madrid had beaten Barcelona at Camp Nou.

What It Does to the Table

Barcelona remain first in La Liga with 27 points from 10 matches. Real Madrid are third on 24 points, and the gap between the two clubs is down to three points with 28 matches left in the 38-game season. Atlético Madrid sit between them in second place; Reuters’ match report put Atlético one point behind Barcelona, on 26 points, while the La Liga results roundup listed Atlético on 25 points.

The win was Real Madrid’s first victory over their rivals this season and the first defeat Barcelona have taken in the league. Their nine straight wins to open the season had built the lead that Sunday’s result reduced. The announced attendance at Camp Nou was 62,055.

Sources: Reuters, USA Today, Sportradar, Vavel and VivaBarça, October 25, 2026.