Jose Mourinho celebrated at Camp Nou after the late winner, while Barcelona slipped to a second straight defeat.

Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou on 25 October 2026, with Kylian Mbappe’s double cutting the La Liga leaders’ advantage to three points and handing Hansi Flick’s side a second straight defeat.

Barcelona remain first on 27 points, but the gap has narrowed. Real Madrid moved to 24 points from 10 La Liga matches and stayed third after a result that changed the mood around both teams.

The opening half was tight rather than wild. Anthony Gordon forced Andriy Lunin to hold a shot from the edge of the area in the seventh minute, and Raphinha later went close from similar range, sending his effort narrowly wide in the 24th minute.

Barcelona also had to make an early change when Xavi Espart was injured after half an hour and replaced by Alejandro Balde. Then, in the 41st minute, the match tilted sharply Madrid’s way.

Gerard Martin tried to clear inside the Barcelona penalty area, but the ball struck Mbappe and ended up in the net. It was an awkward goal for the home side to concede and a ruthless one for Madrid to accept.

Barcelona almost replied before the break, but Lamine Yamal received the ball in the area in the 43rd minute and shot wide of Lunin’s goal. The hosts had energy, yet the clean final action kept escaping them.

Raphinha finally brought Barcelona level in the 61st minute. Pedri found him superbly in the box, and the Brazilian finished past Lunin to make it 1-1.

The equaliser briefly gave Barcelona a push. Four minutes later, Gerard Martin met a corner from Joao Cancelo with a header, but Lunin produced a strong reflex save to keep Madrid level.

Mourinho then turned to Eduardo Camavinga, who replaced Bernardo Silva in the 80th minute. That change mattered seven minutes later, after a slick Madrid move involving Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler and Camavinga opened Barcelona up.

Camavinga was released into the area and squared for Mbappe, who finished simply in the 87th minute for 2-1. This time Mourinho did not hold back: the TV cameras caught the Real Madrid coach celebrating in his characteristic style, sensing the win was close.

The final minutes were tense and full of bookings. Mbappe, Marc Cucurella, Alejandro Balde and Karim Adeyemi were all shown yellow cards in stoppage time, but Madrid protected the lead.

For Barcelona, the defeat followed their 4-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League. After a perfect start of nine wins from nine in La Liga, they have now lost the first two major tests highlighted in the run of the season.

For Madrid, this was their first league win at Camp Nou in five years and one day. It also came without Vinicius, who was absent while serving a four-match suspension and reacted after the match by sharing an image of Mbappe celebrating the second goal with laughing emojis.

Barcelona’s next concern is not only the table, but the pattern: possession and pressure were not enough once Madrid became compact, aggressive and efficient. Real Madrid’s next La Liga match is against Racing Santander, and the title race looks tighter than it did before kick-off.