Real Madrid and Barcelona came up against each other in one of the closely contested El Clasicos of recent time. The hosts took the lead through Casemiro after Sergio Ramos’ shot had ricocheted off the post but their joy was short-lived as Lionel Messi equalised withing 5 minutes with a trademark finish after evading challenges from two Madrid players.
It was the visitors who then took the lead through Ivan Rakitic, with the Croatian firing home a piledriver into the far post from the edge of the box. The game was evenly poised until that time with the Catalans dominating possession and Madrid happy to sit back and catch the visitors on the counter. However, Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos was shown a straight red card for a two-footed lunge on Messi soon after and it looked like the Blaugrana would walk away with the 3 points comfortably.
It was not to be as super-sub James Rodriguez pulled the hosts level in the 85th minute to set up for an exciting finale. Just as it looked that the game was heading for a draw, there was another twist in the tale as Messi stepped up to the occasion and fired home the winner with the last kick of the game.
The winning goal saw Messi notch his 500th goal for Barcelona in all competitions while it also blew open the La Liga title race with the Blaugrana leapfrogging Los Blancos at the top of the table courtesy of a better head-to-head record.
Here are the best and worst players from a memorable night at the Santiago Bernabeu:
Best Player: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen/Keylor Navas
The two goalkeepers almost stole the headlines, almost!
If not for the magic of Lionel Messi towards the end of the game, this game might have gone down in history as the game when two goalkeepers helped their sides walk away with one point apiece.
While Ter Stegen made 12 saves against Madrid – the most he has ever made in a La Liga match, Navas was not behind. The Costa Rican was, almost, equal to whatever Barcelona threw at him and denied Messi and company on several occasions.
Worst Players: Luis Suarez/Paco Alcacer
With Barcelona having won the game and successfully kept their hopes of winning a 3rd consecutive La Liga title alive not much would be said about the shambolic display of the two Barcelona forwards. Luis Suarez has, on many occasions this season, shown signs of his decline after having set the footballing world on fire with his goalscoring exploits last season. The Uruguayan wasted a couple of brilliant chances presented to him by Messi and Rakitic, while his control of the ball and his movement also let him down.
The same can be said of Paco Alcacer. The Spaniard has not been afforded a lot of opportunities to prove himself since his switch from Valencia last summer but deputizing in the absence of Neymar, the Spaniard didn’t give a good account of himself. He was set up brilliantly by Rakitic but he shot straight at the keeper when it was easier to score. He had a couple of other opportunities to get on the scoresheet but was either let down by his movement or his control of the ball.
If Alcacer is let go by Barcelona in the summer, it wouldn't be much of a surprise.
Best Player: Marcelo
The Brazilian was one Real Madrid player who definitely didn't deserve to be on the losing side. He did make a mistake of allowing Sergi Roberto just breeze past the Madrid midfield in the build up to the final goal but apart from that he was top class.
It has often been debated as to who is the best left-back in the world but if anyone has seen him play this week, first against Bayern Munich and then against Barcelona then there is only one answer to that question - Marcelo. The 28-year-old literally ran the show in the midweek win over the Bavarians and while he didn’t have the same effect tonight, he was easily Madrid’s best player on the pitch and also set up James Rodriguez’ 85th-minute equaliser.
Worst Player: Sergio Ramos
If you think Sergio Ramos has made it to the list just because of his two-footed lunge on Lionel Messi, that led to his dismissal and subsequently forced Madrid to chase the game with 10-men, you couldn’t have been further wrong.
Before his sending off in the 77th minute, the Real Madrid captain failed to win a single tackle or make a single successful interception. The Spaniard has made a reputation for scoring late goals but not only was he not on the pitch because of his stupidity in getting sent off, he also ultimately cost his side the match and probably the title?
Best Player: Ivan Rakitic
A lot has been said about Ivan Rakitic and how the midfield maestro has been off the pace this season. However, last night was a night of redemption for the Croatian and if not for some superb goalkeeping and some absolutely shambolic shooting, Rakitic could have easily finished the game with 3 assists.
The 28-year-old did get on the scoresheet with a rocket of a shot from the edge of the box after successfully selling a dummy to Toni Kroos. With Messi dropping deep to orchestrate the game, Rakitic played as an auxiliary winger and to good effect at that.
Worst Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo might have stolen the headlines midweek with his Champions League hat-trick against Bayern Munich but against Barcelona, he was arguably Madrid’s worst player. Not only did he make a mess of the few chances that came to his way, the Portuguese was anonymous for most parts of the game.
You need proof of how anonymous the 4-time Ballon d’Or winner was, you need not look further than this stat – Cristiano Ronaldo only managed to complete 14 passes during the entire game, a number bettered by even Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen, who managed 22.
Best Player: Lionel Messi
Following Barcelona's unceremonious exit from the UEFA Champions League, for the first-time ever there were talks about Lionel Messi’s apparent decline. The Argentine shut up his critics in style, despite being bruised and battered by a ruthless Madrid side.
The 5-time Ballon d’Or winner bust open his mouth after colliding with Marcelo's elbow in the early exchanges of the game and was left bleeding profusely on the pitch, with reports indicating that he might have lost a tooth or two. He suffered a similar fate midweek against Juventus when he was planted on the ground face first and was carrying a black eye courtesy of it.
However, all this didn’t slow him down one bit as he huffed and puffed and jinked past Madrid players at will and scored the two crucial goals. Not only did he just do that, he ran the show from midfield, dropping deep to orchestrate attacks while running at the Madrid defence at will.
Casemiro’s early booking for a foul on Messi shackled the Brazilian and didn’t allow him to have the same effect on the game, while Ramos’ two-footed lunge on him looked to be the game changer before Messi hit Madrid with the sucker punch with the last kick of the game, effectively silencing the Santiago Bernabeu.
Also Read: Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona, 5 Talking Points from El Clasico
