A red card spoiled Madrid’s chances of winning both this match and La Liga.
If there’s a silver lining for Real Madrid in Saturday’s edition of El Clásico, it’s that the club knows it can concentrate on defending its Champions League title now. Barcelona won 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu, opening up the gap in the La Liga title race to a seemingly insurmountable 14 points.
Cristiano Ronaldo thought he’d scored an opening goal off a corner kick in the 2nd minute, but he was ruled offside. Madrid was on top for the rest of the first half hour, but at that point, the match turned in Barca’s favor.
Paulinho had Barcelona’s two best chances of the first half. He ran onto a brilliant Lionel Messi through ball and hit a half-volley on target in the 30th minute, but Keylor Navas tipped his shot over the ball. Messi set up the Brazilian again with a cross in the 39th minute, but Paulinho’s shot was well saved by Navas again, this time low at the near post.
Madrid nearly stole a lead heading into halftime when Karim Benzema got on the end of a ball from Marcelo in the 42nd minute, but his shot hit the post, and the teams headed into halftime tied up at 0-0.
But Barcelona was able to figure out how to break down Madrid in the second half. Mateo Kovacic got a surprise start for Los Merengues and was given the assignment of man marking Messi, which the Blaugrana exploited in the 54th minute. With Kovacic drawn out of position to stick to Messi, the Madrid midfield was open for Ivan Rakitic to surge through on a 50-yard run. He laid the ball off to Sergi Roberto, who crossed to Luis Suarez for an easy finish.
Nine minutes later, Madrid melted down completely and threw away any chances of making a comeback. In the 63rd minute, Suarez had a shot saved, then another off the post after Messi recovered the rebound and provided a perfect setup. But the third attempt was a charm for Barcelona in more ways than one. Paulinho’s follow-up header was handled off the line by Dani Carvajal, who was shown a red card.
Messi converted the resulting penalty, doubling Barcelona’s lead. With Madrid down to 10 men, it was an insurmountable one.
In stoppage time, Aleix Vidal came on for Roberto, and he got to add an exclamation point to the Blaugrana’s victory. Messi set up the final goal with a cutback from the right wing to the top of the box, and Vidal’s shot squirted just under Keylor Navas and dribbled over the line, eliciting groans from the half of the Madrid fans who didn’t leave early.
Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal (red 63’), Casemiro (Asensio 72’), Mateo Kovacic (Bale 72’), Luka Modric, Toni Kroos; Karim Benzema (Nacho 66’) Cristiano Ronaldo
Goals: None.
Barcelona: Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Jordi Alba, Thomas Vermaelen, Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto (Vidal 90’); Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Paulinho (Gomes 84’); Andres Iniesta (Semedo 77’), Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi
Goals: Suarez (54’), Messi (penalty 64’), Vidal (90’)
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