0-4 at the Bernabeu had left fans fuming and the Real Madrid camp unsettled, the drubbing at the hands of bitter rivals Barcelona on the biggest stage in Spanish football late November ultimately resulted in the sacking of the Madrid boss, Rafael Benitez. After Zidane, a former Real Madrid player, took over, they have looked a stronger side in attack and in midfield although the backline has been found wanting at times. In such a scenario, another El Classico, Zidane’s 16th in charge and his first Classico away from home was a mountain to climb, especially against an in-form Barcelone. The Catalans were far from done as shown by their intent in the first half at Camp Nou Saturday. Balls flashed across the face of goal, chances were created at will as Real Madrid looked helpless against a classic Barcelona attack. The trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar created discomfort for the Madrid backline as Ramos, Carvajal, Pepe, Marcelo and Modric struggled to keep the Catalans off their half. Madrid created a couple of chances, especially with Benzema up front but none of them proved promising enough so as to disturb Claudio Bravo in goal. The first half ended goal less with high drama expected in the second half. Both teams went in unchanged after halftime as real persisted with a terribly misfiring Benzema. The defence looked in disarray and that resulted in the first goal for Barcelona from a Gerrard Pique header less than five minutes into the second half. For a man like Pique, who relishes the Classico occasion so much, this was everything he could have asked for. Repeat of a Barcelona victory was on the cards and Camp Nou was on fire. But, then, as real have often done (remember 2014 UEFA Champions League Final in Lisbon), they found their rhythm and moved forward. The dangerous trio of Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema fired shots at Bravo who responded brilliantly only to be beaten by a Benzema volley off a Kroos pass in a goal that was beautifully created by Marcelo. The left back was in tremendous form as he played all over the pitch and gave that extra necessary space to the attacking options, creating chances at the same time. Despite the goal, Benzema was taken off, replaced by Jese Rodriguez. Barcelona swapped Ivan Rakitic with Arda Turan who made his Classico debut. The Real backline did really good enough keeping Messi and Iniesta silent and special credits go to casemiro and ramos. Neymar got half a couple of chances but looked out of sorts as he fired straight to Navas. The turning point came in the dying minutes as Bale’s cross was received by Cristiano Ronaldo in the box, taken down and shot past Bravo make the score line 1-2. Previously, a legitimate Bale goal was disallowed and Ronaldo settled issues with his late strike. Ramos had gone off minutes before having received a second yellow as 10 men Real showed what they had come to the Camp Nou for. Barcelona lacked the sting in their attack as Modric dropped back and kept the Catalans out. Ronaldo’s goal proved to be the decider in what was a sweet revenge for Madrid fans having suffered one of the most humiliating defeats the year before. Barcelona would do well enough to see off Atletico Madrid away at Madrid on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League while Madrid would feel confident enough facing VFL Wolfsburg in the Round of 16 clash.
Game is on from here in last few days to stay a top.
