Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham aimed a dig at Lamine Yamal after Los Blancos beat Barcelona 2-1 to win the El Clasico on Sunday.
The England international scored the winning goal as Real Madrid grabbed a crucial victory for bragging rights and their chances of winning the La Liga title.
Bellingham assisted Kylian Mbappe with a lovely through ball to put Real Madrid ahead before scoring what proved to be the winning goal from close range on 43 minutes.
Real Madrid went five points clear of second-placed Barcelona with the result after the pre-match build-up was dominated by Yamal’s comments that Los Blancos “steal and complain”.
Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior both aimed talking gestures towards Yamal after the match with Bellingham keeping his distance as a bust-up took place between both dugouts.
Instead Bellingham took to social media, in what seemed to refer to Yamal’s pre-match comments, Bellingham told his Instagram followers: “Talk is cheap.”
READ: Two Arsenal players in Premier League XI of the season so far
He added: ‘HALA MADRID SIEMPRE!!!’ with the background music on his story ‘A Little Less Conversation’ by Elvis Presley.
Legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger took aim at Barcelona’s “toothless” display but praised Real Madrid for their performance.
Wenger told beIN Sports: “Xabi Alonso balanced his team well today and overall I would say that it was a bit men against boys in some departments.
“For example, the defensive performance of Real Madrid was much strong than the defensive performance of Barcelona. Up front, Madrid always looked like they could score one more goal and Barcelona looked toothless up front with no Robert Lewandowki and no Raphinha.
“Barcelona had a lot of the ball in the second half after Mbappe missed the penalty but they never really looked like scoring a goal.
“The defensive balance of Real Madrid today, I give credit to Xabi Alonso for having done that very well.”
Wenger added: “You try to focus on balancing your team and on getting them motivated again, setting targets to do better than the year before.
“But when we speak about the Barcelona case, I felt like they lost Inigo Martinez at the back who was one of the experienced players.
“Today, you can see that the defence on the goal from Mbappe lacks maturity and experience.”
READ: ‘Only scoring from set-pieces’ is the Arsenal dream title scenario
On Barcelona, Wenger continued: “The performance of Barcelona lacked maturity today in decisive moments. When you want the big games, it is about dealing with important moments of the game.
“What did Mbappe do? He went into the game today and was thinking, ‘I will only make runs behind the central defenders and I’ll score at some stage’, and he told his midfielders to look at him every time they had the ball.
“The pass from Jude Bellingham was outstanding and Barcelona did not have these kinds of players today to make this kind of difference.
“At the end of the day, you go home and that class, that special class, wins you the game: the vision and the decisive run.”
Reserving special praise for Bellingham, Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso told reporters: “He was good both on the day against Juve and today, and even at Getafe.
“He had three very good matches, and we knew before the last break that he needed minutes to get going and get some feeling. He did better than expected after the break.
“He’s a player who really knows how to transmit and engage. He’s had some very good matches.”
READ: Arne Slot sack calls grow after more ‘poor decisions’ see him ‘found out’
When asked for his reaction to the bust-up between the two dugouts, Alonso added: “It was the timing and the tension on the part of both teams.
“These clashes have always happened and are a result of the desire we have for each other.
“We shouldn’t be scared by a clash, as long as it’s healthy, courteous, and respectful. It was the tension of an important match and a close result.
“We didn’t concede too many chances, and I interpret that as normal. We shouldn’t overemphasise those tense moments. Everything has happened in the Clasicos , and we have another game on Saturday.”
