Real Madrid claimed top spot in La Liga after victory over Barcelona in an El Clasico played under heavy downpour at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.

Karim Benzema gave Real the lead in the 13th-minute with an exquisite flick at the near post to record his ninth goal in his past seven La Liga games.

It was 2-0 fifteen minutes when Toni Kroos’ deflected freekick wrongfooted Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barca goal.

Oscar Mingueza pulled one back for Barca on the hour mark before Madrid’s Casemiro was shown a late red card.

Barcelona fall to a first defeat in 20 LaLiga games and Real Madrid have now won three consecutive matches versus BarcelonaEl Clasicos in all competitions for the first time since 1977.

The result takes Real level on points with Atletico Madrid and Real go ahead of their city rivals because of their superior head-to-head record.

Atletico, who led La Liga by 10 points as recently as 31 January, can reclaim top spot with victory at Real Betis on Sunday.