Mbappe, Madrid claim first blood in Clasico

France star shines

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

Mbappe opened the scoring in the 22nd minute — increasing his league-leading tally to 11 goals — in a breakaway, calmly finding the net with only Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to beat after a nice through ball by Bellingham.

It was Mbappe's 16th goal in his last 13 matches for both club and country.

Barcelona equalized through Fermin Lopez in the 38th and Bellingham netted the winner in the 43rd.

Mbappe had his penalty kick saved by Szczesny in the 52nd.

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

It was the third loss of the season for Barcelona in all competitions, having fallen earlier this month 2-1 to Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League and 4-1 at Sevilla in La Liga.

Yamal was making his third appearance after an injury layoff for a groin issue sustained on international duty with Spain.

The youngster, though, proved ineffective, being kept in check by Madrid defender Alvaro Carreras throughout the match.