Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Rating the Madrid Players in El Clasico

A fearless performance from Real Madrid last night offered them their first win in La Liga over Barcelona since 2008 as they beat Pep Guardiola's side 2-1 in the Nou Camp.

For the first time since Jose Mourinho has been in charge at the Bernabeu, Madrid lined up against Barcelona in a way which suited them. There was no sign of putting players in unfamiliar roles, but rather using their own strengths to take all three points in a manner which they deserved.

Real Madrid countered with pace and were decisive. At the back they were commanding and in no charitable mood to let Barcelona break through.

Despite the excellent performances at many stages during the season—the 3-1 victory at Valencia and the 6-2 win over Sevilla being particular highlights—capturing all three points from the Nou Camp stands as perhaps the whole team's best performance. Certainly in terms of discipline and maybe even shock value.

It was a performance and result that might have seemed unlikely to most considering recent results, but Real Madrid will surely cruise to the La Liga title now with their seven-point lead.

Iker Casillas: 7

Iker Casillas' first notable contribution came through a one-on-one confrontation with the onrushing Dani Alves. The Real Madrid 'keeper was exceptional in that battle and equally through a save from Christian Tello. The Barcelona winger was offside but Casillas wasn't to know and pulled off an excellent save regardless.

Comfortable and confident for much of the game, the Barcelona goal through Alexis Sanchez was a scrappy and unfortunate scramble inside the box. Casillas, although, could have perhaps done better with Tello's initial shot.

Alvaro Arbeloa: 7

Alvaro Arbeloa is often the weak link in this Real Madrid side, but the Spanish full-back was part of an exceptional back four that managed to limit Barcelona to only one goal.

Arbeloa was faced with the very quick but highly inexperienced Christian Tello on Barcelona's left flank, but it was the experience of the former Liverpool defender that won this personal battle.

Tello used his pace well but often ran out of room, giving Arbeloa enough time and space to recover.

Comfortably one of Arebloa's better games this season.

Pepe: 7 and Sergio Ramos: 8

Both Real Madrid centre-backs were exceptional in this game. Yes, Pepe's uglier side of his game did creep in as he threw himself to the ground upon contact with Lionel Messi. However, from a footballing perspective, he was disciplined and created an almost formidable pairing with Sergio Ramos.

Much like the Portuguese international, Sergio Ramos was outstanding. He managed to frustrate Barcelona; getting under their skin as the game drew to a close, and keeping the Barcelona attack well away from Iker Casillas' goal.

The whole defence, marshalled by the two centre-backs, had a phenomenal game. They allowed very little to slip by them, and on the rare occasions that Barcelona broke through, the recovery from the Madrid defence was outstanding.

They were aggressive and, much like Chelsea in midweek, gave Barcelona's attackers very little time when around the penalty area.

Ramos in particular was instrumental in shutting out Messi from the game.

Fabio Coentrao: 7

Fabio Coentrao was always going to be the obvious choice in this game over the more attack-minded Marcelo. The Portuguese full-back worked well with the rest of the defence, restricted Dani Alves to only a few moments of threat and influence in the Barcelona attacking third, and at times forced the Brazilian to cut inside and onto his weaker foot.

His job on the night was never to offer much going forward, but instead to cover the left-back position and not allow any free space.

Sami Khedira: 7

Real Madrid's opener came through Sami Khedira as he got the better of the indecisive Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes. But the German was not to be distracted from his early goal as he continued a high-energy performance by closing Barcelona down in the middle of the pitch and providing an extra level of defence ahead of the Madrid backline.

Xabi Alonso: 6

Xabi Alonso was wrongly booked just after the break for an excellent sliding tackle on Lionel Messi. A yellow card which naturally prompted discussion over the possibility of retiring slide tackles altogether.

His natural game was not able to come to the fore as much of Madrid's good fortune going forward came through other avenues. But Alonso was disciplined for most of the game, providing a number of well-timed interceptions around his own penalty area.

Angel Di Maria: 6

Despite his hard work, Angel Di Maria was perhaps the least spectacular of all the Real Madrid players on the night.

Unlike much of his games this season, Di Maria was not able to have any great influence on the game. He was guilty of surrendering possession at times, but did make up for it with his high work rate.

Mesut Ozil: 7

Mesut Ozil was unnaturally hard working at both ends of the pitch on the night. He closed down Barcelona's attackers with the other Madrid forwards and helped his own backline in creating an intimidating barrier between the home side and Iker Casillas' goal.

His assist for Cristiano Ronaldo was exceptional and capped off a very good performance.

Cristiano Ronaldo: 8

Alongside Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo was comfortably Real Madrid's outstanding performer during the game.

His second-half goal to put the visitors ahead again managed to stop Barcelona from building on their equaliser of only two minutes prior.

The whole game, however, he gave a selfless performance. He terrorised Carles Puyol and Sergio Busquets in the first half and continued to show off his pace and skill in the second.

His goal was a magnificent finish in the face of extreme pressure, and his performance undoubtedly left Lionel Messi in the shadows.

Karim Benzema: 7

Karim Benzema really personified the concept of defending from the front. The Frenchman gave a tireless performance as he hounded the Barcelona backline and forced them to play quickly.

He never gave up on passes that seemed out of reach and played a part in all the promising attacks that Madrid had.

Esteban Granero: 6

Esteban Granero gave a good performance for the 10 minutes he was on the field. He comfortably slotted into the high work rate of his teammates and offered an extra body in the final third.

Gonzalo Higuain: 5 and Jose Callejon: 5

Both Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon came on with very little time to make an impact. Higuain offered an excellent pass in front of goal which Ronaldo sent over.