The clash between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona saw the former winning 2-0 with Vinicius Junior taking the lead in the 71st minute and a stoppage time goal from substitute Mariano Diaz at Santiago Bernabeu.
With this win, Madrid claimed the top spot in La Liga standings.
Former Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo marked his return to Bernabeu to witness Barcelona's defeat after coronavirus outbreak affected Juventus league fixtures.
It was Quique Setien's first ever Clasico bout as Barcelona's manager. Karim Benzema and Isco marked their 500th and 300th official appearance respectively for Los Blancos. Lionel Messi surpassed Xavi for the most El Clasico appearances in Barcelona history with 43.
A dull quarter of the first-half saw both the teams with zero shots on target including Karim Benzema and Antoine Griezmann's poor finish early on. Marcelo and Carvajal came up with beautiful crosses but Benzema's inability to convert led to a goal-less Madrid in the first half.
A cut-throat pass from Antoine Griezmann sliced Madrid's defense giving Arthur a chance to steer clear from defenders after a failed offside-trap but the Brazilian was unable to convert the opportunity into a goal. Sergio Busquet's brilliant lobbed through ball found Messi but the Argentine's attempt went in vain as it was an easy save for Thibaut Courtois with the ball ending right in the Belgian's hands.
And that missed opportunity came back to haunt a fatigued Barcelona in the second half who found themselves overthrown with Madrid's counter-attacks.
Isco's brilliant finesse effort was saved by a flying German's fingertips and a crucial goal-line block by Gerard Pique stopped yet another attempt from the Spanish attacking midfielder.
However, Benzema volleyed over yet another chance after Carvajal found the Frenchman in the open and hoped for a finish. Vidal was subbed off for Barcelona's latest signing from CD Leganes, Martin Braithwaite, who nearly made Madrid pay, but Courtois was there yet again to save Los Blancos.
But that did not stop Madrid's plethora of attacks which eventually led to a goal by Junior who found himself in the clear after a pass from Toni Kroos slit Barcelona's defense. Junior's shot was deflected by Pique into the near post past Ter Stegen.
Junior did Cristiano Ronaldo's celebration as the Portuguese star watched from the stands.
A through ball from Frenkie de Jong found Messi once again in the open making a run towards Courtois but Marcelo's well-timed tackle dismissed the Argentine's chance at an equalizer.
Los Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane's decision to bring on 26-year-old Mariano put Barcelona in trouble as the Spaniard came up with yet another near post finish, handing Real Madrid their first El Clasico win after losing four previous encounters.
Mariano Diaz | Twitter
Barcelona's run of bad away games against big clubs has become monotonous. The team's midfield dominance clashes with their inability to finish which leaves massive counter-attack chances for their opponents. As was the case in today's 244th official Clasico.
This game leaves Messi with no goals scored in El Clasico clashes since Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid.
The clubs are tied in head-to-head results in competitive matches with both sides earning 96 wins. Real Madrid overtook Barcelona in La Liga El Clasico wins with 73 and 72 respectively.
Real Madrid stand atop the La Liga table with 56 points while Barcelona sits second with 55.
Both the teams have two weeks time before they return to face their Champions League opponents in their second-leg fixtures.
While Real Madrid will travel to Manchester City's Etihad to recover the 2-1 loss at home, Barcelona will look forward to holding their away goal advantage when Napoli visits Camp Nou for the second-leg after the first ended 1-1.
