Zinedine Zidane was hailed on the night his Real Madrid side made it two big wins in the week. The head coach masterminded a win against Liverpool in the Champions League and followed it up with a much more significant result in the Spanish league.

Real Madrid climbed to the top of La Liga on Saturday after Karim Benzema’s flicked finish helped them claim a thrilling 2-1 victory over Barcelona in a wild Clasico at Valdebebas.

Benzema’s superb piece of skill and a deflected Toni Kroos free-kick put Madrid in charge and while Oscar Mingueza pulled one back for Barca, they fell to defeat in what could be Lionel Messi’s final appearance in this fixture.

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Victory means Real Madrid go level on points with Atletico, with the top three now separated by a single point.

Atletico, without the injured Luis Suarez, face Real Betis on Sunday.

But Real Madrid now own the better head-to-head against both of their rivals while Barcelona and Atletico still have to play each other at Camp Nou in the run-in.

What the coaches said

Barca coach Ronald Koeman: “We’re still in it. We’ve lost a game against a team who is also fighting for the league but we have eight game left and we will fight to the end.”

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Real coach Zinedine Zidane: “It was a difficult game, the first half was ours, but we suffered in the second. We deserved the victory, because we had a lot of chances to score the third.”

Here are more reactions the El Clasico: