Barcelona recorded an incredible stoppage time 3-2 win over Real Madrid to keep their hopes of a 3rd successive La Liga title alive. The win helped the Catalan giants leapfrog Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table courtesy of a better head-to-head record and it provides them with the opportunity to end the hopes of Zinedine Zidane’s side winning their first league title since 2012.
Lionel Messi stole the show with a heroic display, scoring twice including the stoppage-time winner while Ivan Rakitic also netted a thunderbolt. Casermiro and James Rodriguez got on the scoresheet for the home side and in characteristic Sergio Ramos fashion, the Real Madrid captain was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Messi.
The world reacted to the greatest footballing spectacle in club football and here’s what they had to say:
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique with his 2 cents on Messi and the memorable victory
“Messi is decisive even when he is at home eating dinner. He is the best player in history and I have seen a lot of football and many videos. He has scored 500 goals and it is a great pleasure for all the Barca fans to identify with him as one of them. Barca have been incredible for many years but an important part of their history is owed to Messi.
“It explains the height of the season we are in. We needed to fight. There were many chances for both teams and the pace was very high. A great Sant Jordi day for all Catalans. No one doubts the potential of Madrid, one of the best teams in the world that continues to win titles. They are very powerful. We think we won because we wanted to reward and highlight that the behaviour of the fans, our fans, in the 85th minute and for supporting the team when we lost to Juventus.”
Zinedine Zidane reflects on where it went wrong for his side
“I cannot be happy. We are disappointed with the result. When you get back to 2-2 with 10 men you have to think a little more and defend together. We thought that we could grab a third goal. From a throw in we were out of position and then what happened happened. Playing to push up when we have 10 men is dangerous and there was room for us to do something else.
“We created a lot during the whole game. We had many goalscoring chances throughout the match, but couldn't bring the game under control. When you don't kill the game off, this can happen, and it did. I have to look at the game again but I wouldn't have changed anything.
“Messi made the difference for his team. He has scored two goals, but it is not only Messi - we didn't control the game well in the moments that we could have done damage to our opponent. We cannot be happy, it is the first Clasico for me at home and the result is bad. We lose three points but there is a lot of the league still to play. We were not going to finish LaLiga in this match, but of course it would have been better to win. Overall we did not deserve to lose, although football is like this. Now we have to think about the next game on Wednesday [away to Deportivo La Coruna].”
Andres Iniesta reflects on the win and Leo Messi!
“I think the true greatness of Leo is that he never ceases to amaze even after so many years.It is an honour for the club to have him as he is a blessing.
“We should have made it 3-1 but they had chances too.We played well and that wasn't easy after we lost to Juventus.We had to win, we rushed to mount one more attack and it was important to score when we had the chance. A victory in injury time leaves us incredibly motivated and we are still alive, Real Madrid now has to avoid defeat.”
Carvajal pinpoints exactly what was the turning point of the game
“The sending off defined the game. We had managed to draw level and in the last passage of play we failed and have lost the game. The game had been end to end and we didn't have any luck.
“You have to congratulate them for the victory, but there is still a lot of the league left, we have played a game less and we have to make the most of it. Messi had a good game. The team has fought and had chances, we have to be calm and keep battling because we can still depend on only ourselves.”
Rakitic is not surprised by Lionel Messi’s exploits....
“Messi cannot surprise anyone. You can put him anywhere and he can hurt teams. We are very happy for the victory and for him, because we need him.
“We deserved the victory and we are very happy, but we have to keep going. We were better 11 against 11 rather than 11 against 10 and we have to learn to be calmer. We have shown that we have a lot of character.”
Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique had a slightly verbal disagreement following the former’s sending off and here is their take on the red card.
Sergio Ramos on his red card:
“The red card was excessive.I was not going to harm anyone. In my opinion, that was a yellow card, not a red. I was too late, but there was no contact. I never have the intention to hurt anyone.”
And on his gesture towards Pique
“I did not applaud the referee when I walked off. I was talking to Pique, not to the referee. Referees can be right and sometimes they are wrong. This one was decisive. But I was chatting to Pique, not the referee. They [Barcelona] have a different understanding of the game and always talk about referees. But we will not talk about referees, that is not our style. Pique always talks about referees. Maybe it is better to talk about the referee sometimes than to keep quiet, but I will not start any controversy.
“I have no problem with Pique, but he might not get a hug after a Clasico like this.”
Gerard Pique, as you would expect, didn’t agree with it...
“I am convinced that he will realise it was a clear red card once he gets home and sees it again. He went into the tackle with both feet forward when Messi got away. It was all very clear, he goes in there with his studs up and does not get the ball. There is no discussion about it.
“What happened is that the people here are used to that referees allow a lot of things and then when that does not happen... I saw Ramos pointing at me after the red card, but he will regret what happened when he sees the incident again. It was a very clear red card.”
Here is what the Barcelona players tweeted after the game:
And here’s what Real Madrid players tweeted:
And the rest of the world....
Even Bayern Munich congratulated Lionel Messi on his momentous achievement!
Supernatural, Alien or simply the ‘Greatest of All Time’?
