An Unforgettable afternoon for Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu as they scored three past their arch-rivals in a thrilling encounter to go 14 points clear above Real Madrid, who currently lie in fourth(4th) place with a game in hand. Messi showcased his talents once more he scored his 25th Classico goal from the penalty spot after Cavajal was red carded for handling the ball in the box. He went on to assist an Aleix Vidal goal in the 90th minute to seal the victory.
The game started with Madrid on the front foot from the start of kickoff. Ronaldo scored a goal in the 2nd minute of the game, which was rightfully ruled offside by the linesman. Madrid went on to dominate the first half with waves of attacks. They were superior in the midfield and Barcelona defence managed to contain them in the first half. A Benzema strike which hit the post and numerous Ronaldo strikes which just didn’t find the back of the net thanks to the heroics of the Barcelona goalie TerStegan.
Players like Busquets and Messi were silent in the first half and failed to really make a significant impact in that half as Madrid were on top. The 2 good chances that fell to Barcelona in the first half all fell to Paulinho(Playing his first ever Classico) and both assisted by Messi but Keylor Navas made two brilliant saves.
The 2nd half came with so much promise as Barcelona found their form and were able to hold on to the ball well in the midfield. In the 54th minute, Busquets held the ball graciously to beat his marker then released the pass to Ivan Rakitic who ran through the heart of Madrid defence and delivered a fine through pass to S.Roberto who squared the ball first time to Luis Suarez to slot home the opening goal. It was the first time in the game where Barcelona opened up Madrid defense.
In the 63rd minute, Barcelona opened up Madrid defence once more with both Suarez and Messi back to back shot being saved by Keylor Navas before Daniel Carvajal handles the ball in the box as a Paulinho header was just creeping into the back of the net. He was shown a straight red and Messi was awarded the penalty. Messi converted from the penalty spot in the 64th minute as he fired a high shot to the right hand side of the goal to beat the Navas. Keylor Navas made some impressive saves to the game at 0-2 with hope still alive for Real Madrid.
Zidane brought on Bale and Asensio to try and get a point from the game. Barcelona where able to control the tempo of the game and nulled all Real Madrid’s attack. In the 93rd minute Messi dribbled passed Marcelo to set up a goal by Aleix Vidal to seal an emphatic victory. A game of two half’s which saw the Catalan giants come out on top. Messi will be going into the New Year as the Laliga leading goal scorer.
Barcelona has now won seven (7) of the last Classico’s played at the Santiago Bernabeu scoring 28 goals. In a post-match interview Marcelo praised Barcelona saying “Playing against Barca wears you down a lot. The second half was different. We did a good job in the first half but not the second. We were killed, that’s football, playing against Barca isn’t easy”.
As the Bernabeu emptied, Cules went to the top of the stadium chanting “Visca Barca, Visca Catalunya” to add an extra political punch to Madrid. Real Madrid will look to play catch up to Barcelona as the title race is now in Barcelona hands. Or is it early to call?
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