El Clasico 2014: Top Moments from Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Clash

Real Madrid fought back from an early deficit to beat Barcelona 3-1 in a thrilling El Clasico match that delivered in terms of sheer entertainment and quality play.

ESPN FC's Craig Burley summed it up perfectly:

Indeed, Barcelona vs. Real Madrid is event television, whether it's in La Liga, Champions League, or the Copa Del Rey. It pits the two best players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, against each other, with a supporting cast of footballing talent that is the envy of 99 percent of the world's clubs. 

In this contest, the top moments are always worth revisiting.

In some ways, the biggest moment of the match came at the starting whistle. Luis Suarez made his first start for Barcelona, joining the likes of Neymar and Messi up front in attack. Bleacher Report tweeted the news:

Suarez, not yet fit enough to play a full 90 minutes, made his mark on the game just four minutes into the match. Moving down the right flank, he conjured up an inch-perfect pass to Neymar on the opposite side of the pitch. The Brazilian superstar cut in on his right foot and curled in a beauty of a shot to give Barca an early 1-0 lead.

ESPN Stats & Info gave a look at the superb buildup to the goal:

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was very impressed with the pass:

Suarez played well overall, but wouldn't make any further impact on the game. Barcelona manager Luis Enrique elected to replace him with Pedro in the 69th minute.

Real Madrid soldiered on despite the early setback, and it was none other than Ronaldo who brought them level on a penalty kick in the 35th minute. ESPN UK gave a look at the strike:

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out that Ronaldo, who has 16 goals in La Liga this year, is on an incredible scoring streak:

And yes, this was the first goal Barcelona has allowed in La Liga this season.

The first half ended in a 1-1 tie. Real Madrid was slowly but surely gaining complete control over the match and took the lead just after halftime thanks to an unlikely scoring source.

Pepe—victimized by Neymar on the opening goal and about as stable as a barrel of C4 in a cement mixer—utilized his buzzed noggin to perfection, scoring a rare headed goal off a superb corner kick from Toni Kroos just five minutes into the second half.

Bleacher Report's Dan Levy tweeted the sublime match commentary from Ray Hudson:

Barcelona held the ball 58 percent of the time, but they couldn't create very many quality chances. They managed to put just five of their 16 shots on goal, and Messi especially wasn't quite his usual ball-of-lightning self on the day. He had his head in his hands by the end of the day, per ESPN FC:

Striker Karim Benzema finally gave Real Madrid breathing room, cementing the final scoreline with a sumptuous low strike in the 61st minute that capped off a blistering counter-attack. ESPN FC tweeted those involved in the play:

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti insisted the win was a team effort, per Squawka Football:

Barcelona are still the top team in the La Liga table after the loss, but Real Madrid is in imperious form and coming on strong. Los Blancos have outscored Barca 33-23 on the season and look unstoppable in attack after a couple of early-season hiccups.

Barcelona's metronomic passing attack is confident and assured enough to deliver a slew of one- or two-goal victories, but Madrid are playing in such a way that they could very well beat this squad on the road at Camp Nou on March 22 and roll to a La Liga title, as long as they shake off pesky city rivals Atletico Madrid.