Barcelona: Sergio Ramos performed the ‘great escape act’ for Real Madrid at the Nou Camp as the visitors were lucky to come out unscathed in a 1-1 draw with Barcelona. It was a game that could have easily gone the hosts’ way had a profligate Neymar not missed two easy chances midway into the second session.
After a more or less not too exhilarating first half, the El Clasico exploded with excitement when Luis Suarez headed in a Neymar set-piece free-kick from the right of the Real penalty box in the 53rd minute. But then fortune finally smiled on the visitors when Ramos was at the right place at the right time to nod a free-kick taken by Luka Modric, past Marc-Andre ter Stegen to salvage the draw. In case of both the goals, defenders had not marked the scorers giving them a free header in the process.
Real Madrid (34 points from 14 games), thus maintained their six-point lead over their arch rivals (28 points from the same number of games).
The game also saw the return of Andres Iniesta, who came in as a substitute in the 60th minute and the moment, he stepped in on the pitch, Barca rediscovered their Midas touch playing their free-flowing game for which they are much-lauded globally. Iniesta last played October 22 for Barca in the La Liga game against Valencia, but looked his fluent fluid self.
Cristiano Ronaldo, save for one shot in the first session looked pedestrian for most part of the match. On the other hand, Messi had a good day in office working from the left side of the pitch and controlling the middle-third area. Suarez, got the goal, looked sprightly, but the off day for Neymar meant that a vital cog of the dreaded MSN had gone missing.
Overall, it was a sort of moral victory for Zinedine Zidane as it was the away encounter for Real and because his team managed to maintain the lead they had going into the game.
Agencies
