When the referee blew the final whistle, the Bernabéu Stadium became a sea of celebration.
Countless fans cheered and celebrated excitedly in the stands, while the substitutes rushed onto the pitch to celebrate the victory in this El Clásico with their already exhausted teammates.
Just as Ancelotti had said before the match, clashes between teams capable of challenging for the title could, to some extent, determine which way the championship scales tipped. Winning such a clash instead of losing it meant a six-point difference—two matches would be needed to make up the gap.
In La Liga, there had always been only two teams truly capable of challenging for the title: Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid had risen dramatically last season, but this season they had lost too many players and were no longer as competitive as they had been at their peak. For now, they still found it difficult to challenge for the league title.
So, in a sense, Real Madrid and Barcelona were the true contenders for this season's La Liga crown. El Clásico would once again influence who won the title, and that was even more true for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid had not had a smooth start to the season. They had lost two matches in a row, one of them to Atletico Madrid, while Barcelona had been unstoppable, winning match after match. Not only had they been scoring freely, but they had also yet to concede a goal, and their morale was soaring.
But in this match at the Bernabéu Stadium, Barcelona's trump cards had been completely exposed by Real Madrid.
Their so-called clean sheet record had merely been because they had yet to face a genuinely strong opponent. Their so-called string of victories had merely been because they had yet to meet a true