MADRID — For the second time in five days, Barcelona proved far too strong for Real Madrid as Pere Romeu’s side won 3-0 at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano to move to the brink of a seventh successive Liga F title.
Ona Batlle, Alexia Putellas and an own goal from Maëlle Lakrar sealed a victory that took leaders Barça 13 points clear of second-place Madrid with just six games to go.
The win came just days after Barça had battered Madrid 6-2 at the same stadium in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
– UWCL talking points: How can VAR improve? Can Madrid keep Caicedo?
– Barcelona remind Real Madrid who reigns supreme in UWCL
– Is there extra time, away goals in the Women’s Champions League?
A trilogy of consecutive Clásicos will be completed Thursday when the teams reconvene at Camp Nou for the second leg of that quarterfinal tie. At this point, it seems a question of how many Barça will score in that game rather than whether Madrid could pull off the most unlikely of comebacks.
Pau Quesada’s side was woeful Sunday, registering just one shot on target, and, if anything, will have been relieved to have got away with just a three-goal defeat.
What a difference a year makes.
It was around this time in 2025 when Madrid clinched their first-ever victory against Barça — and also beat Arsenal, before eventually losing the tie, in Europe — with a performance that suggested the gap between the two rivals was finally closing.
As Madrid continued to strengthen — building around Linda Caicedo, who was so impressive Thursday but kept quieter Sunday — Barça curtailed spending last summer, opting to let squad players move on and promote youngsters to make up the numbers.
However, what looked like an opportunity for Madrid to make further inroads has not proved the case.
Barça’s teenagers have excelled throughout the season, and midfielder Clara Serrajordi and defender Aïcha Cámara were excellent as they started both Clásicos this past week.
Serrajordi was the surprise pick in midfield last Thursday, fitting in seamlessly alongside Putellas and Patri Guijarro, while Cámara, who played at full back earlier in the campaign, has been brilliant in the middle of defense in the absence of Mapi León.
Sydney Schertenleib and Vicky López are both more established than Serrajordi and Cámara, but both are still teenagers, too, and both have played their part in the Madrid wins.
It has meant that even without the best player in the world, three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, who is currently out injured, the Blaugrana have steamrolled Madrid in their backyard twice in a week.
Sunday was different from Wednesday’s game, Madrid pressing less and prepared to let Barça keep the ball, but it was never really a contest from the moment right back Batlle’s long-range effort was deflected past goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez in the 18th minute.
A goal-line clearance from Rocío Gálvez from a Putellas effort kept Madrid in the game, in theory, going into the break, but that quickly changed in the second half.
Captain Putellas added Barça’s second in the 51st-minute after Caroline Graham Hansen had skinned Yasmim, prompting Rodríguez to call an impromptu team meeting for Madrid’s players just outside her box as they regrouped.
It had little effect. Four minutes later, Lakrar turned a Batlle cross beyond Rodríguez at her near post and the final half an hour became target practice for Barça.
Irene Paredes poked just wide, a Salma Paralluelo shot was cleared off the line, Rodríguez saved from Esmee Brugts and López, and Clàudia Pina could find only the side netting late after rounding Rodríguez.
They might have been coasting, but Barça take delight in beating Madrid, never letting up even once they are out of sight, and they will expect more goals in Thursday’s third meeting between the teams in a week.
Guijarro had called Wednesday’s 6-2 win “historic,” but there must be some awareness that Barça would ultimately benefit from a stronger Madrid — and a stronger Liga F in general.
After a week in which Barça have taken huge strides toward winning the Champions League and Liga F — after 23 wins from 24 games, two more from their final six will guarantee them an 11th league title — that question has never been more relevant.
Since Madrid’s win last March, Barça have now win five Clásico fixtures in a row by an aggregate score of 19-2. Any noise about Madrid bridging the gap has been well and truly silenced.
“Madrid might be getting better,” López said last week. “But so are we.”
