n action-packed opening saw two goals in the opening eight minutes, with Fede Valverde’s effort cancelled out by Barca wonder kid Ansu Fati.
Both sides had chances to take the lead in an open first-half, but found by Thibaut Courtois and Neto in good form at either end.
Fati started ahead of Antoine Griezmann as Barca’s No.9, was causing problems with his pace and movement, and set up a guilt-edged chance for Philippe Coutinho in the second half – only for the Brazilian to fluff his lines, heading wide of the near post.
On that moment, during a period where Barcelona were in the ascendancy, the game turned.
Because shortly after, Gerard Pique tugged down Sergio Ramos, and after VAR intervention and the referee checking his monitor, the Spain captain made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Luka Modric wrapped up victory late on, a lovely outside-the-boot finish past Neto ensuring Madrid’s losing run is over and handing the Spanish champions all three points.
It is perhaps too early to talk about real pressure but Barcelona’s tally of seven points from five games is as bad a start as boss Ronald Koeman could have feared.
They were okay for large parts of El Clasico and dominated for a period but Real deserved their win in the end.
Brazilian forward Phillipe Coutinho had two chances where he could have scored but he couldn’t connect to the ball.
For Real Madrid, the win means Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has not lost any of his six matches as a manager at the Nou Camp, with three wins and three draws.
