Barca shines as they demolish the real madrid!!!

El Clásico, Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona: Match Review

The Uruguayan Bagged a  double as Luis Enrique's side ran a riot in Santiago Bernabau

After such an abysmal performance by Rafa Benítez's men it's hard not to wonder how can this Real Madrid team play this bad. Not one player seemed to care a single bit as Barcelona completely dominated the whole match effortlessly by keeping the possession and hurting Madrid with dangerous counterattacks as soon as Los Blancos tried to attack without tracking back. That same pattern was repeated over and over again until the final whistle. One of the worst performances by Real Madrid in a very long, long time.

(Suarez bottom opened the flood gates by scoring a fantastic goal in the left corner)

                        

Barcelona's opening goal was well deserved and scored in the 11th minute of the game. By then, Real Madrid had already shown worrying signs with the ball, being unable to keep it for longer than 20 seconds while it's true that Barcelona also seemed toothless prior to that goal. It would be reasonable to say that Real Madrid rolled over after that but it would be way too generous with their first 11 minutes.

      ( Neymar gliding towards the goal before squeezing the strike under oncoming Navas)

Barcelona scored their second goal and virtually put the nail in Madrid's coffin in the 39th minute, something that infuriated the fans at the Bernabéu. The players left the pitch after the half-time whistle listening loud jeers while some fans also blamed President Florentino Pérez by singing "Florentino dimisión -- Florentino out --". Real seemed to start the second half way better but their charge ended very soon and Barcelona had time to score two more. Luis Suárez and Iniesta were just too much to handle for a careless side like Real Madrid.

The blame should be shared. Benítez decided to start a very attacking-minded lineup and there was no midfield to contain Barcelona's possession game. This made no sense as neither James, Bale, Benzema or Ronaldo helped Modric and Kroos. That's arguably Benítez's fault and something that needs to be addressed if these 11 players are going to start again. That thing said, the players simply did not care enough and their effort has to be questioned. Kroos, Danilo, Marcelo, Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo did not try their best and that's something Real cannot afford in El Clásico.

  ( Iniesta firing A sensational finish in the top right corner)

The fans have the right to blame Florentino Pérez's decisions last summer. The team did not end the season well under Carlo Ancelotti but if firing the Italian was the right choice, hiring Benítez certainly wasn't. He wasn't a coveted coach in European football and only West Ham United were interested in his talents. That says something. Assembling this roster and putting it in Benítez's hands was a mistake to say the least.

All in all, turbulent times ahead for Real Madrid. How will Pérez react to the fans' complaints? How much credit left does Benítez have? It all remains to be seen, but it sure looks like this personnel will not end the season together.

 Andres Iniesta

9.4

Minutes played: 76

Touches: 78 no

Passes: 68

Pass Accuracy: 96%

Shots/Shots on Target: 1/1

Fouls Won: 0

Turnovers: 2

Successful Dribbles: 4

Key Passes: 1

Tackles: 1

It seems that whenever Iniesta sees the white of Madrid, he takes his already high level up another notch. This time was no different. Given freedom to move, he looked the happiest man on the pitch. Pinging cross field balls, sliding eye-of-the-needle passes and dribbling with ease through the Madrid defence, Iniesta was at his mighty best. He registered his first league assist of the season, a delicately placed ball to Neymar that beat the offside trap by the nearest of margins and to top off a stellar performance he got his first goal of the season. He released the ball to Neymar and burst forward to get on the end of the return pass before, without a moment’s hesitation, rifling the ball high into the top corner. Given a standing ovation from the home crowd as he left the field.

Claudio Bravo

9.4

Minutes played: 90

Touches: 54

Passes: 33

Pass Accuracy: 70%

Shots Faced: 7

Saves Made: 7

Interceptions: 1

  

( Bravo denying Ronaldo from scoring a consolation goal for Madrid)

                   

Bravo had to be on his game to prevent the hosts from scoring in the El Clasico, and boy was he ever on his game. Making seven saves on the evening, Bravo had a largely uneventful first half, though he did cause some unnecessary danger by dropping an easy cross minutes before the halftime whistle, but the Chilean was tested often after the break. He had to make a strong stop early in the half, denying James Rodriguez, before twice frustrating Cristiano Ronaldo, both times from up close, and also made a superb save on a Karim Benzema header. A truly brilliant performance between the sticks.

Luis Suarez

9.3

Minutes played: 90

Touches: 51

Passes: 32

Pass Accuracy: 56%

Shots/Shots on Target: 4/3

Fouls Won: 1

Successful Dribbles: 1

Key Passes: 1

Turnovers: 3

Clearances: 4

The Uruguayan may rub me up the wrong way with some of his antics, but my goodness, he knows how to score goals. And important ones at that. His brace was the individual highlight of the match as he displayed icy composure to finish a couple of one-on-ones with statistically the best keeper in La Liga, at least headed into that match.

 After Match Reactions

Sergio Ramos

"We have to ask the Real Madrid fans for forgiveness for our poor performance."

"With this pain comes an opportunity to exact revenge in a few months' time.

Marcelo

                                              

( Marcelo crying after being substituted  when Suarez made it 4-0)

"We have to face the music and ask the fans for their forgiveness. We'll keep fighting",

Sergio Busquets

" We no longer fear Madrid"

Rafa Benitez

 "I must say I chose the wrong XI."

Dani Alves

" CRISTIANO likes to be the protagonist. If you want to be like that, when you win they speak about you and put you in the limelight but, if you lose, you must take the flak."