The first Clásico of the 2014-15 La Liga season belongs to
Real Madrid as Los Blancos earned a scintillating comeback
3-1 victory over Barcelona on Saturday evening at the Estadio
Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid.
Neymar tallied early for the visitors but a first half penalty
conversion from Cristiano Ronaldo and second half goals by
Pepe and Karim Benzema handed Barcelona their first league
defeat of the season. It was also the first time since 1988 that
Barcelona failed to defeat Real after having scored the first
goal.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti reverted back to his
4-4-2 in light of Gareth Bale's injury so it was Benzema and
Ronaldo up top with James and Isco flanked out wide and
Luka Modric and Toni Kroos slotted into the midfield. In
defense goalkeeper Iker Casillas was protected by a back four
of Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Marcelo.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique caught many by surprise by
putting new arrival Luis Suárez into his starting XI. The
Uruguayan, who had yet to even play an official match this
season due to his ban, started up top with Lionel Messi and
Neymar. It was a familiar trio in the center of the pitch with
Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets and in the back
Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy
Mathieu lined up in front of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
Barcelona quieted the Bernabéu crowd early on as Neymar
struck in the fourth minute to give the Catalonians a 1-0 lead.
Suárez showed no rust in catapulting a perfect ball across to
Neymar on the left and the Brazilian took the ball back across
the middle and was left enough room to fire off a shot that
beat Casillas.
Undeterred, Real started applying the pressure as Los Blancos
started peppering the Barcelona area, including a stupefying
10 second sequence in the 11th minute when Benzema hit the
crossbar with a header and then his follow up effort rang off
the post. Yet Barcelona were able to sustain Real's heavy
punches without being breached and then came inches away
from making it a two-goal lead in the 23rd minute, only for
Messi's close-range shot to be tipped wide by Casillas off
another stellar Suárez pass.
For the first time this season Barcelona allowed a goal as
Ronaldo converted a penalty in the 34th minute after Piqué
was whistled for a handball while sliding to block a Marcelo
pass in the area. The Portuguese superstar easily converted
the spot kick to level the score at 1-1 in what was the first
goal allowed by Bravo in 754 minutes.
While defending set pieces have been Real's bugaboo in
recent seasons, the same could be said for Barcelona and it
was from a deal ball situation where Real took a 2-1 lead in
the 50th minute. A Kroos corner kick was curled in and Pepe
peeled away just enough to thump a header between Bravo
and the near post to put Ancelotti's men ahead.
An atrocious error from Barcelona led to Real striking for a
third goal just after the hour mark as miscommunication at
the touch line between Iniesta and Mascherano allowed Isco
to swoop in to steal the ball and start a Real break. It
eventually ended with James feeding Benzema and the
Frenchman rocketed a shot past Bravo and suddenly Real
were ahead 3-1.
Meanwhile, it was tough going in attack for Luis Enrique's
men as Messi and Neymar were virtually nonexistent in the
second stanza and Suárez lacked a finishing touch on any
ball played into him. Barcelona had the bulk of possession,
but did very little with it, to the credit of the Real defense,
especially fullbacks Carvajal and Marcelo who were
tremendous. Their efforts allowed Real to sit back and then
play their lethal counter, which posed a threat every time
down the field.
Real did well to close out the game in full control by staying
tight and compact in defense and allowing Barcelona few
looks at goal. The victory pushes Real up the table to second
and just a single point behind Barcelona.
Real return to action on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey
versus Cornella while Barcelona will face Celta in league
action next Saturday.