El Clasico 2016: Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale React to Barcelona vs. Real Madrid

Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos was ecstatic after the 2-1 Clasico win over Barcelona on Saturday, telling reporters he would have gotten sent off sooner if he had known it would lead to the win. Meanwhile, Gareth Bale hopes the loss will knock the Catalans' confidence. 

Ramos was sent off late during Saturday's match for a second bookable offence, and the defender had barely left the pitch when Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning goal. As reported by Football Espana (h/t Eurosport UK), he reveled in how things played out:

"

[This win] is a way of regaining confidence, a prize. We’re working very hard to achieve something important. This is the way forward.

The goal from Cris [Ronaldo] was for those who said he couldn’t score in these games.

We did enough damage on the counterattack with one less man.

If I knew that we’d win with one less man, I’d have got sent off sooner!

"

Per Pete Jenson of MailOnline, Bale was asked whether the final result would be as much of a blow to Barcelona as a momentum boost for Los Blancos, and he replied:

"

That is what we are hoping for. Football does funny things to teams when they lose and you never know what can happen.

Hopefully we can take this result into the Champions League. We know we can beat anyone on our day. Everyone says that Barcelona are the best team and we have beaten them in their own backyard so mentally it puts us in a great position. 

"

Barcelona still lead Atletico Madrid by six points in the Spanish title race, while Real sit one spot further down in the standings, seven points behind their Catalan rivals.

Gerard Pique gave the Catalans the lead early in the second half of Saturday's Clasico, but Karim Benzema pulled his team level just minutes later, and Ronaldo handed the visitors a late winner.

Here's a look at the full highlights from Saturday's clash, courtesy of MrRealmadrid7cr1:

Bale had a goal controversially ruled out for a perceived foul on Jordi Alba, and replays showed the Welshman barely made any contact with the full-back.

As shared by Sid Lowe, the former Tottenham Hotspur star took a shot at the official for that decision:

Los Blancos had little reason to complain about the officiating, however. Ramos was lucky to still be on the pitch at half-time after committing several bookable offences, and it took the official until the 84th minute to show the Spain international the red card.

The Daily Mirror's Ed Malyon was almost impressed with how he insisted on making rash challenges, despite numerous warnings:

It all worked out for Real in the end, however, and the win against Barcelona will hand the squad a nice boost heading into the final stretch of the campaign.

The team will face Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday with momentum on their side, and that competition will provide manager Zinedine Zidane's men with their best chance of winning silverware this season.

Barcelona will have to get past Saturday's loss in a hurry, as they'll meet Atletico in the Champions League on Tuesday.

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