Real Madrid ended Barcelona's 39 match unbeaten streak in style despite going down to 10 men at the Camp Nou. Gerard Pique opened the scoring for the hosts heading in a corner early in the second half before Real Madrid scored twice to win yet again at the Camp Nou.
Karim Benzema's effort was an acrobatic one and Claudio Bravo could do nothing to keep it out. Real Madrid should've then gone up 2-1 from Gareth Bale's header but the referee raised his flag and the goal was disallowed. Nonetheless, the Welshman would influence the game greatly when he found Ronaldo at the other end of the box on a speedy counter attack. Bale's cross found Ronaldo, who controlled the ball past a tiring Dani Alves and smacked the ball into the back of the net.
Real Madrid cut the lead to Barcelona to just 7 points but have only 6 games left to play. Cross-city rivals, Atletico Madrid, also won and put the pressure on Real Madrid and Barcelona heading into the final weeks of the season.
Here's how the who's who of the football world reacted to the El Clasico win for Real Madrid.
Sky Sports pundit and former Barcelona man, Thierry Henry, admitted Zinedine Zidane got everything spot on and praised the Madrid team:
“I like the way Zidane set up the team,” he said. “They were not scared, they put pressure on when they needed to and kept their composure at 1-0 down.
“They were trying to play from the back under pressure and they looked like a team with the right balance. Zidane understood he had to take care of the midfield, especially against Barcelona. People wanted to know if tactically he could do something against Barcelona and he did.”
Real Madrid's manager, Zinedine Zidane, was over the moon with his team's performance:
"I'm very happy with everything," he said. "We struggled a bit initially, but I come away from here happy for our fans and for the team because it's not easy to win here. I liked everything about my players' performance. We put in a massive effort and I was pleased with everything, both defensively and attacking-wise".
Meanwhile, assist man and overall beast of a player, Gareth Bale, was thrilled about the victory.
Barcelona manager, Luis Enrique, was furious with his team and showed it with his quotes after the game.
"This game already doesn't exist for me," he said.
"There is no pain. We came into the game on the back of many games without losing, but defeats can teach you things and the players know that.
"Every title has its difficulties, especially when you are playing against opponents with the same objectives."
Goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, emphasised on team work by saying 'Great game for the whole team. We win together, we celebrate together.'
Sergio Ramos also went with praising the whole team
Karim Benzema – the other goalscorer – went one step ahead and said his team would 'never give up'
Italian legend, Alessandro Del Piero, was impressed with the way Zidane set up his team and of Real Madrid's performance:
