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| Luis Suárez’s sweet strike drives Barcelona past Real Madrid | Luis Suárez’s sweet strike drives Barcelona past Real Madrid |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Barcelona and Real Madrid have traded places; they may also have traded roles. Four points ahead eight games ago, Madrid are now four points behind after Barcelona beat them in a chaotic, open gamein which it was the Catalans who scored with a header from a corner and a goal on the break. Jérémy Mathieu and Luis Suárez got them and if Barcelona ended this match on top, chasing a third goal that would have seen then not only climb four points clear but also equal the head-to-head goal difference with Madrid, for much of the night they had held on. | Barcelona and Real Madrid have traded places; they may also have traded roles. Four points ahead eight games ago, Madrid are now four points behind after Barcelona beat them in a chaotic, open gamein which it was the Catalans who scored with a header from a corner and a goal on the break. Jérémy Mathieu and Luis Suárez got them and if Barcelona ended this match on top, chasing a third goal that would have seen then not only climb four points clear but also equal the head-to-head goal difference with Madrid, for much of the night they had held on. |
| By then, Madrid were exhausted, their early control gone. In the final minutes Barcelona were well on top, Lionel Messi running the game. But until then, it had been Madrid, unusually, who had been defined by pressure and possession even with Barcelona getting the first. | By then, Madrid were exhausted, their early control gone. In the final minutes Barcelona were well on top, Lionel Messi running the game. But until then, it had been Madrid, unusually, who had been defined by pressure and possession even with Barcelona getting the first. |
| Barcelona were given a free-kick on the left for a foul by Pepe on Suárez, another glimpse of a battle that was building. Messi curled the ball in and Mathieu headed down and into the net. It was Mathieu’s first goal of the season and Messi’s 22nd assist, more proof that things are not always as they seem: this the ninth header that Real Madrid have conceded in the league this season. Barcelona had conceded just one – to Pepe in the first clásico of the season. | Barcelona were given a free-kick on the left for a foul by Pepe on Suárez, another glimpse of a battle that was building. Messi curled the ball in and Mathieu headed down and into the net. It was Mathieu’s first goal of the season and Messi’s 22nd assist, more proof that things are not always as they seem: this the ninth header that Real Madrid have conceded in the league this season. Barcelona had conceded just one – to Pepe in the first clásico of the season. |
| And yet the lead was far from secure. Cristiano Ronaldo had already hit the bar with a volley at the far post, Isco’s shot had skidded wide and then Ronaldo had leapt to head over, all in a minute. Trailing now, they took another step forward. Every time Madrid pressed, Barcelona were uncomfortable and as the half went on Madrid pressed with growing insistence. Luka Modric, starting for the first time in four months, gave Madrid a clarity lacking of late; Marcelo, theoretically guarding Messi on the right, found space into which to progress, and the front three were increasingly involved. | And yet the lead was far from secure. Cristiano Ronaldo had already hit the bar with a volley at the far post, Isco’s shot had skidded wide and then Ronaldo had leapt to head over, all in a minute. Trailing now, they took another step forward. Every time Madrid pressed, Barcelona were uncomfortable and as the half went on Madrid pressed with growing insistence. Luka Modric, starting for the first time in four months, gave Madrid a clarity lacking of late; Marcelo, theoretically guarding Messi on the right, found space into which to progress, and the front three were increasingly involved. |
| The equaliser came just after the half hour and less than a minute after Neymar had somehow passed up the opportunity to make it 2-0, side-footing into Iker Casillas’ arms from four yards. | The equaliser came just after the half hour and less than a minute after Neymar had somehow passed up the opportunity to make it 2-0, side-footing into Iker Casillas’ arms from four yards. |
| Modric’s neat pass found Karim Benzema who provided a gorgeous assist, back-heeling the ball first time into the path of Ronaldo and he steered it away from Bravo. He has now scored in seven of his last eight visits to the Camp Nou. | Modric’s neat pass found Karim Benzema who provided a gorgeous assist, back-heeling the ball first time into the path of Ronaldo and he steered it away from Bravo. He has now scored in seven of his last eight visits to the Camp Nou. |
| Barcelona’s weakness was revealed and Madrid honed in on it, heading ever further up the pitch. Gerard Piqué held his side together, racing to put out fires at every turn. Gareth Bale slid in the second goal but was pulled back because the linesman judged Ronaldo offside when he flicked the ball on. | Barcelona’s weakness was revealed and Madrid honed in on it, heading ever further up the pitch. Gerard Piqué held his side together, racing to put out fires at every turn. Gareth Bale slid in the second goal but was pulled back because the linesman judged Ronaldo offside when he flicked the ball on. |
| The Wales captain shot wide from just outside the six-yard box after the ball dropped to him from a corner. And then Benzema, controlling beautifully on the chest and shrugging off his man, combined with Bale and Ronaldo. His shot was struck hard, the ball shifting in their air as it flew goalwards where Bravo pushed it over. | |
| If the half-time whistle was welcome, a chance to correct and reconnect, the second half began in a similar manner. Within two minutes Bravo again had to intervene, Ronaldo and Benzema combining for the Frenchman to shoot. There was something eloquent in the wild, nervous way that Mathieu hacked the ball away, likewise in the way the Camp Nou roared when Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernández left the bench to warm up: control was needed urgently at Camp Nou. | |
| Madrid’s pressure troubled Barcelona but Barcelona did not trouble to press Madrid. In possession, they found more space and time than they could have expected. Unable or unprepared to wrest control of the ball in the middle, Barcelona turned more direct. It worked too: Dani Alves’s long ball found Suárez, running in behind Pepe. The first touch to control the ball as it hit the turf was sublime and the finish was assured, guided low into the far corner beyond Casillas. | |
| Now tackles flew, players tumbled, and yellow cards were waved. Madrid and Barcelona were winding each other up now; Mathieu Lahoz, a referee whose criteria remain a mystery, was playing his part too. It was all becoming chaotic, the noise rising and the pace quickening. | Now tackles flew, players tumbled, and yellow cards were waved. Madrid and Barcelona were winding each other up now; Mathieu Lahoz, a referee whose criteria remain a mystery, was playing his part too. It was all becoming chaotic, the noise rising and the pace quickening. |
| A long ball over the top saw Neymar tumbling as he sought to run into the space behind Dani Carvajal and a few minutes later, the Brazilian raced through the middle, evading tackles, until he reached the edge of the area, where a brilliant run should have concluded with him dropping the ball off to Suárez. Instead, he sliced a wild shot over the bar. | |
| Madrid had lost control now and in the chaos Barcelona appeared the happier, pouring into the space that had opened up. Messi produced the classic Messi run, only that it did not end with the ball in the back of the net. Coming in from the right he curled a shot just wide. A minute later, he was running at Madrid again, the middle of the pitch no longer so populous, laying the ball into the path of Neymar. | |
| Again, the shot was sliced, flying wide at the near post. Next Neymar found Messi, but as he came inside and the Camp Nou held its breath, his close range shot was blocked. The misses meant that this was still not over. Bravo produced a sharp save to push away Benzema’s deflected shot and both sides made changes: Xavi and Busquets came on and so did Jesé. Control was the aim, but chances came and the game did not truly slow. Suárez pulled one shot wide and then Jordi Alba accelerated through and exchanged passes with Messi, the speed breathtaking as he bust into the area, but his shot was pushed wide. | |
| The same pair combined a minute later, Messi hitting Alba’s pull-back first time only for Casillas to save at the near post. Barcelona sought the third at one end, the risk being that they might lose their lead at the other and the nerves continued until the end. Indeed, as Barcelona came forward looking for a third, some supporters wished they would not. Until, eventually, the whistle went. The third goal did not come, but the victory did. Barcelona are four points clear. | The same pair combined a minute later, Messi hitting Alba’s pull-back first time only for Casillas to save at the near post. Barcelona sought the third at one end, the risk being that they might lose their lead at the other and the nerves continued until the end. Indeed, as Barcelona came forward looking for a third, some supporters wished they would not. Until, eventually, the whistle went. The third goal did not come, but the victory did. Barcelona are four points clear. |