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Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga with a crushing 3-0 win over 10-man Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. Goals from Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, and Aleix Vidal saw the Catalan club extend their lead at the top of the table to nine points.
Messi was orchestrator-in-chief - despite a quiet first half - with a goal and assist in the second half. His penalty also saw him go past Gerd Muller to become the all-time top goalscorer in Europe's top leagues.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 Crowded midfield slowed down the game in the first half
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona went with four central midfielders - even in the wide positions. But most of the action was focused in the centre with the full-backs doing their bit to provide width.
The wide midfielders drifted in on occasion and, as a result, it was a very crowded in the middle of the park where players were starved of both space and time to create opportunities.
It was one of the reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez kept dropping deep to help out with transitioning the ball forward. Ronaldo was even commended on his work-rate to keep the ball moving and ensure Real Madrid were in control of the ball to dominate possession.
#2 Kovacic's primary role to man-mark Messi cost Real Madrid
When the starting lineup for Real Madrid was announced, a big surprise came in the form of Mateo Kovacic coming into the XI with Isco dropping to the bench. The Croatian midfielder had only played 71 minutes in La Liga this season prior to the Clasico.
But he held his own - at least in the first half. More importantly, he had one role and that was to keep Lionel Messi quiet. The Argentine forward barely had a touch in the first half hour and managed to create only two chances and had no shots on goal.
Kovacic was also crucial to Real not only keeping possession but also winning the ball back. He was also the only player to finish the half with a 100% pass completion rate (24/24 passes).
However, that also proved to be Real's undoing as he was on the wrong side of Messi on a Barca counter-attack, allowing Ivan Rakitic to waltz through into the vacated space and initiate the play that eventually saw Luis Suarez score.
Once the game opened up, he had no chance of keeping up with Messi who eventually helped create the second goal as well.
#3 Dani Carvajal's unnecessary red card turns the game
Soon after Suarez had made it 1-0, Barcelona were on the ascendancy. Kovacic seemed to be struggling to mark Messi on the counter-attack and the Argentine spotted Luis Suarez out on the left, feeding him with a sumptuous through-ball.
That's when Real lost their heads. Pandemonium ensued on the goal line as Suarez's shot came off the post before Paulinho's header from the rebound was saved off the line - not by Keylor Navas but by Dani Carvajal with a deliberate handball.
The Spanish right-back had no complaints when the referee took out his red card but this was not a case of taking one for the team. Messi converted the penalty with aplomb to make it 2-0 but it allowed the Catalan club to dominate possession and keep the ball to put the brakes on Real Madrid.
Benzema was sacrificed for Nacho and the Bernabeu's boos were very audible as Real failed to press Barcelona who decided to play 'keep the ball' by spreading it from one end of the pitch to the other - making it as tough as possible for Real's 10 men to win it back.
Carvajal's handball was unnecessary. There was still half an hour to go to fight for a result and deliberately going down to 10 men against Barcelona was suicide.
#4 Real Madrid guilty of wasting chances
Barcelona may have won 3-0 but in reality it could have easily been 3-3. Real Madrid were guilty of missing a number of chances. The home side had 14 shots on goal but only 5 were on target.
Their inability to seriously test Marc-Andre ter Stegen in Barcelona's goal - especially in the first half - came back to bite them in the second when they were down to 10 men.
Cristiano Ronaldo was guilty of missing a couple of opportunities in the box - a header as early as the second minute when he strayed offside and a free left-footed shot where he completely failed to make contact with the ball were two highlights.
There was also an opportunity to feed Karim Benzema on a counter but the final ball was intercepted by the Barcelona defence as Ronaldo held his head in his hands. Benzema had also seen a header come off the post.
The second half also saw substitute Gareth Bale miss a chance to score although it was a tough shot with the ball behind him. His left-footed strike from distance did test Ter Stegen and the German goalkeeper spilled the ball but Marcelo had failed to make a run to pounce on the rebound.
#5 Is La Liga title race over?
No hay liga?
After 17 games in La Liga, Barcelona remain the only undefeated team in the Spanish top flight. Atletico Madrid's loss to Espanyol last night also sees both Cataln sides getting one over the Madrid sides this weekend.
Ernesto Valverde came in after a turbulent summer and the Spanish Cup thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid was the last time the Catalan club has lost a game - way back in August.
14 wins and 3 draws in the league later, Barcelona have a 9-point lead at the top. Real are further behind in fourth place - 14 points behind. Although they have a game in hand (owing to their participation in their successful Club World Cup campaign), the gap seems insurmountable at this stage of the season.
Real are drifting further away in the league and Zinedine Zidane cannot seem to arrest their slide. On the other hand, Valverde's squad looks unstoppable and their 3-0 win in the capital will only consolidate the 'favourites' tag as they look to reclaim the Liga crown.
