Madrid lost the Clásico but they are rehabilitated

Barça won and moved four points clear, making them favourites for the title. But Madrid are still well placed. Because it’s four points, or two draws, and that maintains their personal goal. Madrid have reason to grumble and lament, because for much of the match they were the better team and could have taken a lead by a couple of goals into the break. But when they had chances to finish the game they could not take them, and even conceded the opening goal through the fault of Pepe through some poor defending. Then Cristiano levelled things. For Barça it was a relief to reach the break without further damage. But they were unsettled.

And so it continued in the second half, with Madrid intimidating by a Barça that did not feel secure. Marcelo was good, so was Kroos, Modric was bossing things and Cristiano was a threat…The game smelled white when suddenly there was the break of Luis Suárez, who decided the game with the serenity of a great ‘killer’. The two good centre-backs of Madrid were not well positioned, and Casillas committed too soon. It was the goal of the game and it had a devastating impact on Madrid. For ten minutes they felt the blow. And on top of that they were tired.

That fell especially on Modric. It fell on other players, of both teams, to the point that the game ended in a kind of heroic exchanging of blows and failures. But before they arrived at that, Barça had chances to close the game with a resounding scoreline. They did not succeed. Clear opportunities escaped both Neymar and Messi, with Bravo responding well to the Madrid chances that came between. The result was a a splendid Clásico, of slides, exhaustion, of two sides that were able to win or lose. And that leaves Barça as favourites, but Madrid are rehabilitated.

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