It might be called El Clasico, but this one is unlikely to be remembered as one of the great games.
A 10-man Real Madrid eked past a lackluster Barcelona to claim all three points at Camp Nou in Saturday’s Clasico.
Barcelona – who paid a stunning tribute to Johan Cruyff before kick off -came into the game on the back of a 39-game unbeaten run in all competitions, while Lionel Messi was just one shy of his 500th career goal, but they failed to show up and were second best for most of the game.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock in the first half, although Barca fans were upset that Sergio Ramos was still on the pitch following a series of clumsy challenges.
https://twitter.com/jperkovic93/status/716349757363515394
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https://twitter.com/_Zeets/status/716349278764052482
Serge Ramos clattering everyone in sight tonight. Will be finding a way to have his individual highlights video as my desktop background.
— Michael Keshani (@MichaelKeshani) April 2, 2016
Just before the hour mark, it was a Barcelona centre-half who stepped up and gave his side the lead when Gerard Pique headed home.
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But Karim Benzema soon equalised with acrobatic finish from short range.
https://twitter.com/alfonyc/status/716356433995022336
Karim Benzema: Has directly contributed to 21 goals in his last 16 apps for Real Madrid (18 goals, 3 assists) #ElClasico
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) April 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/Heisenbergkamp/status/716354734777610240
Then Gareth Bale thought he had found the winner as he headed the ball into the corner of the net, but he was rather harshly judged to have pushed Jordi Alba out of the way.
https://twitter.com/SoccerNewsFeed/status/716362372206698496
Because bale is taller than Alba they disallowed his goal. Short ppl always causing problems 😫
— Mamaa (@ama_kusi) April 2, 2016
The referee should apologies to Bale personally
— Yassine 🥷🏿 (@YassineFutbol) April 2, 2016
Just as they were starting to take control of the game, Real Madrid were dealt a blow as Sergio Ramos finally got his second yellow card.
You're born, you die, you pay taxes, and Ramos gets sent off.
— Lee Roden (@LeeRoden89) April 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/lucasammr/status/716357629744967680
Ramos? More like…. RAMOFF.
— NepentheZ (@NepentheZ) April 2, 2016
But Cristiano Ronaldo came through with the winning goal to ensure Los Blancos closed the gap at the top to seven points.
Ronaldo gets the winner in the El Clasico 🔥 https://t.co/NJkorsxUb4
— Footy Planet (@Footy_Planet) April 2, 2016
Funny how Cules claim that "Ronaldo disappears in Clasicos" yet Messi hasn't scored against Real Madrid in two years (April 2014)
— Isco Disco (@MadridistaFacts) April 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/LaModrica/status/716364152529428481
