That left the space for the visitors to break away and score themselves. Real Madrid have won the Champions League in two of the past three seasons, but have been less successful domestically - they are without a La Liga title since 2012, with Barcelona taking the trophy three times and Atletico Madrid once since then.ĭown to 10 men after Ramos' sending off and having pulled level with five minutes to spare, Zinedine Zidane's outfit looked intent on a winner that would have effectively put the title beyond Barcelona.
Still Madrid's title to lose Casemiro opened the scoring for Real Madrid in the 28th minute His reward, as well as outshining Real Madrid counterpart Ronaldo in this Clasico, was to further ingrain his name into Barcelona folklore.
The travelling Catalan contingent could not complain about Sunday's heroics, however, as they were treated to two fine finishes from Messi that were complemented by an equally composed Rakitic strike from the edge of the area.Īny crisis talks can be postponed while this side continues to boast Messi in its ranks, with the little magician showing he still has the ability to carry the Blaugrana against the world's best teams.Ī genius with the football at his feet, Messi continued to be the creative spark for Barcelona even after Casemiro - lucky not to be sent off himself - had twice scythed the forward down and an innocuous Marcelo elbow left the Argentine with a bloodied mouth. Fans expect to see their side win in style and have questioned the merits of boss Luis Enrique, who is to leave at the end of the season. Trophies are often the minimum requirement for those in charge at Camp Nou. Reaching the Champions League quarter-finals and competing to win La Liga would hardly constitute a crisis for most clubs, but this is Barcelona. Head-to-head record is the first criterion used to separate teams level on points in La Liga Barca crisis averted? Quotes: Enrique hails 'gargantuan' Barcelona win.Analysis: 500 up Messi proves he's still the best.Real - who have a game in hand on Barcelona - also felt they should have had a penalty when Ronaldo was clipped by Samuel Umtiti after only two minutes. Substitute James Rodriguez thought he had earned Madrid a point late on.īut Messi, who scored his first with a superb jinking run and finish, fired in from the edge of the area to win it for Barcelona.īoth Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier missed good opportunities to give their sides the lead, with the Argentina international poking wide of an open goal before the break and the Real Madrid forward slicing over in the second half. Casemiro scored first for the hosts before Messi and Ivan Rakitic put Barcelona in front and Sergio Ramos was shown a red card for a wild lunge.
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