Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Score and Reaction from El Clasico 2016

Real Madrid reignited their hopes of winning the La Liga title with a sensational 2-1 victory over Barcelona in a dramatic El Clasico on Saturday night.

Gerard Pique gave Barca the lead early in the second half, before goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo on either side of Sergio Ramos’ red card handed Real all three points.

The victory moves Madrid seven points back of their rivals at the top of the table with just seven games left to play, while Barcelona were left to rue what could have been after dominating for long periods.

The first half failed to live up to the El Clasico hype. In fact, it was incredibly forgettable.

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It wasn’t until 19 minutes in that one of the goalkeepers was called into meaningful action, as Keylor Navas comfortably saved Ivan Rakitic’s snapshot between the Madrid posts.

Real were happy to sit back and absorb Barcelona pressure, and the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were unable to break down their stubborn rear guard.

At the other end, Zinedine Zidane’s men were limited to half-chances, although Ronaldo had a free-kick 25 yards out that he should have done a lot better with.

As the referee blew for half-time, the world stopped and wondered how they could go about getting 45 minutes of their life back. Paddy Power jested at the boring nature of the half:

The second half was a totally different story, though.

Barcelona came flying out of the traps and immediately piled the pressure on the Real Madrid goal, and it wasn’t long before they made the breakthrough.

On the 52-minute mark, Rakitic swung in a beautiful corner straight onto the head of Pique, who powered it past Navas to send the Camp Nou into raptures. Sky Sports La Liga revealed the moment Barcelona went a goal to the good:

Questions had to be asked about Real’s marking, though, as Pique easily lost his marker, Pepe, to nod home. Still, you can take nothing away from the Spaniard, who was the subject of plenty of praise on Twitter—including from Piers Morgan:

From then on, you’d have expected Barcelona to put the game to bed. They were outclassing Real all over the pitch and just needed a second goal to cement their dominance.

However, the visitors found themselves on level terms just seven minutes after going behind through Benzema.

Marcelo’s weaving run from left-back opened up the Barcelona defence; he played it wide to Toni Kroos, who played the ball in to Benzema to acrobatically volley home, via Sky Sports La Liga:

The game then opened up and finally gave fans the Clasico they’d been licking their chops over for weeks, with both sides pushing for a winner.

And Real Madrid thought they’d found one with just 10 minutes remaining. Gareth Bale nodded the ball home at the back post and wheeled off in celebration, but the referee ruled the goal out for an apparent foul on Jordi Alba, via Sky Sports La Liga:

Real weren’t happy with the decision at all, and it’s safe to say it did seem a little harsh. Journalist Guillem Balague commented that the goal should have stood:

And the visitors will have been cursing their luck even more when Ramos was sent off for a second bookable offence a few minutes later, putting Barca firmly in the driving seat.

However, depression soon turn to delight, as Ronaldo slammed Zidane’s men in front with five minutes left on the clock.

Bale floated a ball in to the Portuguese forward on the edge of the six-yard box, he beautifully chested it away from the defender and struck past Claudio Bravo, via Sky Sports La Liga:

Neymar had half a chance at the death to nick a point for Barca, but Madrid were defending their lead resolutely and eventually crossed the line for a crucial three points.

The match was far from a thriller in the early exchanges, but it was always playing out like a game that would be decided by a single moment of brilliance.

Ronaldo provided that moment. The Portuguese forward is often criticised for not turning up on the big stage, and he more than proved his doubters wrong on Saturday.

Post-Match Reaction

While Barcelona lost ground on their bid to retain the La Liga title and suffered their first defeat in 40 matches, manager Enrique remained positive in his post-match interview, saying his side are still worthy champions, per Barcelona's official Twitter account:

Zidane, meanwhile, told ESPN's Dermot Corrigan that he was incredibly impressed with his side's performance and happy to take three points away from the Camp Nou: