The match ended with 4 goals, 8 yellow cards, a red card and a lot of controversy. Quite explosive for a Classic without bets.
El Clásico has always been one of the most anticipated football matches with FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, two of the biggest football clubs on the planet. The clash is not just limited to the contrasting football styles of the clubs, but is also seen as a clash between Spain and Catalonia. With so much importance attached to the game, it has always lived up to the expectations of football fans. Emotions rise on the pitch as tempers flare and controversies and fights break out. This Sunday’s El Clásico had been described as a wet affair even before its start, as Barcelona had already won the league, while Real Madrid was being cautious in preparing for the Champions League final. The fact that this was Iniesta’s last Clásico was the only reason most fans were looking forward to the soccer game. There were others who recalled the fact that Barcelona had been undefeated during the league and cup season thus far and a loss would mean that they could not go undefeated for the entire season.
But all that wet talk from El Clásico turned to dust when Barcelona took an early lead thanks to Luis Suárez, who connected perfectly with a Sergio Roberto cross. Real Madrid soon leveled when Cristiano Ronaldo connected with a Benzema header that was set up by Toni Kroos. Both teams continued to threaten each other’s goals while creating opportunities left and right. Ronaldo also suffered an injury that saw him limping for the rest of the half. At the end of the 40th minute, two of Real Madrid’s defenders received yellow cards and also Messi and Saurez from Barcelona. But the real controversy started when the referee failed to notice Gareth Bale’s horrible challenge to Samuel Umtiti that should have earned him a direct red card.
Things soon began to heat up as halftime approached. A Real Madrid attack down the left wing saw a clash between Marcelo and Sergio Roberto. The latter lost his cool and threw his fist at Marcelo’s face. The referee had a clear vision of this clash and showed a direct red to Roberto right at the half-time break. This meant that Barcelona had to play the entire second half, with one less man.
While Barcelona were left with 10 men, Real Madrid had to replace Ronaldo due to his injury in the first half that caused ankle swelling. Real Madrid dominated the half but couldn’t create many chances. Barcelona took the lead again when Messi scored with a pass from Suárez. There was a fierce outcry from the Real Madrid players, as Saurez had fouled Varane in the lead-up to goal, but he got away with it. Real Madrid struggled to find a draw against a 10-man Barcelona and it was Gareth Bale who curved it in the 72nd minute to level the score.
Barcelona kept attacking when a super effort from Lionel Messi was beautifully saved by Navas. Messi once again ended up close to scoring when a curly shot from him ended up wide of the post. Real Madrid was also beginning to take advantage of the 10-man Barcelona. Marcelo was knocked down inside the Barcelona area, but the referee again made a controversial call by denying Real Madrid a clear penalty. Barcelona, having given a clear lifeline, continued to resist all the advances of Real Madrid and clung to the dear life. Nelson Semedo had Coutinho take Roberto’s position on defense, impressed by his speed and endurance. Finally, Semedo cleared the ball with a header and the referee blew the final whistle.
Andrés Iniesta’s final Clásico had come to life from the beginning and lived up to expectations. There was applause from all sides. The Master made his last bow.
Despite all the controversy and bad refereeing decisions, everyone was satisfied with the result. Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde later exclaimed that it would have hurt if Real Madrid had broken the undefeated streak, so the draw was a fair and acceptable result. As they say, even a draw means undefeated. Everyone who’s in Sunday’s Classic will agree that the players took to the field as if everything was at stake, contrary to the belief that there was nothing.