ESPN FC’s Mark Donaldson and Shaka Hislop analyse the latest edition of El Clasico, as Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid overpowered Barcelona on their way to a 3-1 triumph.
Real Madrid put on a performance to match any seen in the history of the Clasico at the Bernabeu on Saturday. The home side went behind to Neymar’s early goal but rebounded to carve out a 3-1 win that should have been even more emphatic.
Tactically, Carlo Ancelotti outdid his Barcelona counterpart Luis Enrique by deploying two wide men in Isco and James Rodriguez, who had the desired effect of pulling Barca’s back line out of shape. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos bossed the midfield contest — Enrique elected to leave Ivan Rakitic on the bench — and Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were duly handed the freedom of the Bernabeu.
The victory pulls Real back to within a point of league leaders Barca and represented a psychological blow to the visitors, who hadn’t conceded once in the league before Saturday.
El Clasico: Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona
– Clasico: How the world reacted
– Three Points: Unlikely heroes
– Player Ratings: Barcelona
– Player Ratings: Real Madrid
– Ancelotti: We wanted it more
– Enrique: I don’t regret starting Luis
Player ratings: 1-10; 10=best (Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Iker Casillas, 7 — Made a few saves (the one from Jeremy Mathieu’s pile-driver can be filed under “Hollywood”) but just as importantly, he commanded his box well, punching clear with confidence when needed. A solid performance from the captain, and he did need one.
DF Dani Carvajal, 6.5 — The young right-back was partly at fault for Neymar’s goal, backing off from the Brazilian on the edge of the box. Carvajal did redeem himself by hurling himself at Neymar’s feet when the Brazilian seemed certain to score, and had the visitors gone two up, the game may have been very different. Offered his usual threat down the right and picked up a yellow for a challenge from behind on Mathieu.
DF Pepe, 6.5 — Equally to blame for the early goal conceded, Pepe was too close to Carvajal to provide effective cover and should have tracked Neymar’s run across the box instead of moving towards the Brazilian, who was Carvajal’s to pick up. It was not a great game defensively from the Portuguese veteran but he did perform a timely intervention from Lionel Messi’s cross on 30 minutes when Real were still behind, and of course scored a cracking goal at the other end.
DF Sergio Ramos, 7 — Solid and dependable, as is expected. He should have read Neymar’s run for the opening goal but he stood his ground well when Luis Suarez was through on goal.
DF Marcelo, 7 — The Brazilian was dangerous going forward as always, providing the cross that Gerard Pique handled for the penalty, and he made himself available for the overlap all night. Ran himself into the ground in the second half as Barcelona’s right side collapsed under Real’s relentless assault.
MF Toni Kroos, 7 — Provided the assist for Pepe’s goal from the corner flag and kept Real ticking over, as well as shielding the back four when Enrique’s men had numbers around the box. A no-frills display from the World Cup winner, which is exactly what he’s there for.
MF Luka Modric, 7.5 — Another midfield masterclass from the Croatian, who was everywhere. He is now the heartbeat of this Real Madrid side and has evolved into his role as the all-action, dynamic midfielder the team needs. Lucky to avoid punishment for a cynical foul on Suarez when the Uruguayan was goal-bound.
MF Isco, 8 — Tireless work at both ends from the youngster, who put on a display of wonderful close control and deft touches. A lung-busting run from the back forced a mistake from Andres Iniesta, and while he erred with his short ball to Ronaldo rather than putting it ahead of the Portuguese, it ended up in the back of the net anyway for Benzema’s goal. Received a standing ovation when brought off, and it was fully deserved.
MF James Rodriguez, 7 — The Colombian had a fairly quiet match, largely because most of the play was on the opposite flank. He was tidy in possession and put in some decent crosses, although he missed a clear headed chance at the end of the first half.
FW Cristiano Ronaldo, 7 — Did what he gets the fancy paycheque for, levelling the match coolly from the spot, but some uncharacteristically shoddy decision-making in the second half let Barca off the hook.
FW Karim Benzema, 9 — Lively from the outset. Scored a well-taken goal and put in a genuine all-round performance, also defying those detractors who claim he doesn’t put in enough effort by running at the back four all night. If he can maintain this form, Benzema is on course for his finest season at Real to date.
Karim Benzema scored a fine goal to cap a wonderful performance in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Barcelona in El Clasico on Saturday.
Substitutes
MF Asier Illarramendi, NR — Brought on to help run the clock down a bit with 10 minutes to go, and did exactly that.
MF Sami Khedira, NR — A few minutes for the Germany international as he feels his way back from injury.
DF Alvaro Arbeloa, NR — Also called from the bench with the clock in mind in what is becoming his chief role at the club this season.