FC Barcelona hosted Real Madrid with a must win objective if they were not to allow the visitors a possible 9 point gap on the Liga classification table. The final result a 1 - 1 draw which keeps things as they were before "el clasico", with a six point difference between both on the Liga table with Real Madrid on top.
A game that went to Real Madrid the first half & to Barça the second half. The added note was that once again Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos did his heroic piece & headed the equalizer in the 90th min to save the match for his team.
Earlier in the 52nd min Luis Suarez managed to put Barça ahead with a header from a Neymar free.kick.
The game was intense with lots of fouls and controversial referee decisions throughout the entire match. Possible penalties due to hand ball to both sides were not called, & some fouls perhaps deserved more sanction. Keeping apart these elements the match was also notable due the absence from the big stars. Messi was average for his team, while Cristiano Ronaldo intermittent and out of touch. Karim Benzema was "totally out" & zero effective, while Neymar, allow playing a part in the first goal, inaccurate & more on the floor than on his feet. Good match from Real Madrid defender Varane ( except the 1º Barça goal), Modric as always & Lucas Vazquez who sacrificed himself for Real Madrid. For Barça Sergi Busquets was outstanding, show again that in his position he is Best, Pique was good while Iniesta impressed in the 2º half.
The good news for FC Barcelona was indeed the return of Captain Andres Iniesta in the second half and to which he contributed positively to the good Barça play. The other side of the coin was James Rodriguez who once again did not get a run & was surpassed by Casemiro, Asensio & young Mariano, the three substitutes. Clear message that the Colombian is not an important piece in this Real Madrid team which now has 34 straight games without defeat.
Conclusion: a typical Barça-Real Madrid game which was intense & physical. Barcelona is showing signs of losing its "total domination" aspect to their Football & maybe are on a slow slide to "normality", while Real Madrid had to do its usual heroics to comeback & save the day. In the end this draw result was more a victory for Real Madrid which saves points & even take one back to Madrid.
Other Liga results:
- Granada 2 (Andreas, Lomban) - Sevilla FC 1 (Ben Yedder)
- Leganes 0 - Villarreal 0
- Atletico de Madrid 0 - RCD Espanyol 0
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