Real Madrid are the winners of El Clásico
after a tough, hard-fought game with
plenty of intensity and quality, with the
Blancos prevailing by a score of 2-1 with
goals from Gerard Piqué for Barça, with
Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo
scoring for Madrid. The visitors had to
come from behind with ten men, but
showed strength and mental toughness to
pull out a great Clásico result.
FIRST HALF
In another first half with terrible
refereeing, Barça watched Hernández
Hernández screw up time after time. He
made wrong calls, didn't see fouls, saw
fouls where they didn't exist, and most
importantly chose not to call a clear
penalty by Sergio Ramos on Lionel Messi
which would have given the Real center-
back a red card.
Horrible officiating aside, the game was
as tough as expected. Barça had most of
the ball and had a crystal clear chance
less than ten minutes in that Suárez
somehow missed, but slowly Madrid
came to life and started to bother the
Blaugrana defense. Both teams showed
intensity and physicality, and both
coaches had good answers for each other.
At halftime, a good game, no goals, and
the promise of an exciting final period.
SECOND HALF
The second half had all the ingredients of
a fantastic football game. The intensity
went up a notch, and goals started to
happen. First, a perfect cross from Ivan
Rakitic found the head of Piqué for the
opener. Just five minutes later, a textbook
Madrid counter-attack ended with a
sensational volley from Benzema and the
equalizer.
As the minutes went on, the visitors
looked a lot better, and deserved a
second goal. They got it, and the
controversy came. A cross by Ronaldo
found the head of Gareth Bale who scored
with a great header, but it was quickly
disallowed by an alleged foul from the
Welshman.
Sergio Ramos did not help Madrid's chase
to a victory when he fouled Suárez and
was sent off for a second booking. But
the Madridistas somehow found a way to
win, and it came with their biggest star.
Bale's cross found Ronaldo, who chested
down and scored the winner.
In the end, a win for the history books
that could change Real Madrid's season.
And Barça's too, for that matter.
Barcelona : Bravo; Alves, Piqué,
Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic
(Arda), Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Neymar
Goals: Piqué (56')
Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Pepe,
Ramos, Marcelo; Casemiro, Modric,
Kroos; Bale (Vázquez), Benzema (Jesé),
Ronaldo
Goals: Benzema (62'), Ronaldo (85')
