Real boss Barça to take Clásico
The first Clásicoof the 2014-15 La Liga season belongs to Real Madrid as Los Blancos earned a scintillating comeback 3-1 victoryover Barcelonaon Saturday evening at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid.
Neymar tallied early for the visitors but a first half penalty conversion from Cristiano Ronaldo and second half goals by Pepe and Karim Benzema handed Barcelona their first league defeat of the season. It was also the first time since 1988 that Barcelona failed to defeat Real after having scored the first goal.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti reverted back to his 4-4-2 in light of Gareth Bale's injury so it was Benzema and Ronaldo up top with James and Isco flanked out wide and Luka Modric and Toni Kroos slotted into the midfield. In defense goalkeeper Iker Casillas was protected by a back four of Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Marcelo.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique caught many by surprise by putting new arrival Luis Suárez into his starting XI. The Uruguayan, who had yet to even play an official match this season due to his ban, started up top with Lionel Messi and Neymar. It was a familiar trio in the center of the pitch with Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets and in the back Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu lined up in front of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
Barcelona quieted the Bernabéu crowd early on as Neymar struck in the fourth minute to give the Catalonians a 1-0 lead. Suárez showed no rust in catapulting a perfect ball across to Neymar on the left and the Brazilian took the ball back across the middle and was left enough room to fire off a shot that beat Casillas.
Undeterred, Real started applying the pressure as Los Blancos started peppering the Barcelona area, including a stupefying 10 second sequence in the 11th minute when Benzema hit the crossbar with a header and then his follow up effort rang off the post. Yet Barcelona were able to sustain Real's heavy punches without being breached and then came inches away from making it a two-goal lead in the 23rd minute, only for Messi's close-range shot to be tipped wide by Casillas off another stellar Suárez pass.
For the first time this season Barcelona allowed a goal as Ronaldo converted a penalty in the 34th minute after Piqué was whistled for a handball while sliding to block a Marcelo pass in the area. The Portuguese superstar easily converted the spot kick to level the score at 1-1 in what was the first goal allowed by Bravo in 754 minutes.
While defending set pieces have been Real's bugaboo in recent seasons, the same could be said for Barcelona and it was from a deal ball situation where Real took a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute. A Kroos corner kick was curled in and Pepe peeled away just enough to thump a header between Bravo and the near post to put Ancelotti's men ahead.
An atrocious error from Barcelona led to Real striking for a third goal just after the hour mark as miscommunication at the touch line between Iniesta and Mascherano allowed Isco to swoop in to steal the ball and start a Real break. It eventually ended with James feeding Benzema and the Frenchman rocketed a shot past Bravo and suddenly Real were ahead 3-1.
Meanwhile, it was tough going in attack for Luis Enrique's men as Messi and Neymar were virtually nonexistent in the second stanza and Suárez lacked a finishing touch on any ball played into him. Barcelona had the bulk of possession, but did very little with it, to the credit of the Real defense, especially fullbacks Carvajal and Marcelo who were tremendous.
Their efforts allowed Real to sit back and then play their lethal counter, which posed a threat every time down the field.
Real did well to close out the game in full control by staying tight and compact in defense and allowing Barcelona few looks at goal. The victory pushes Real up the table to second and just a single point behind Barcelona.
Real return to action on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey versus Cornella while Barcelona will face Celta in league action next Saturday.
