El Clasico Breakdown: A Truly Even Affair Between Two of Spain's Best

Barcelona has claimed the first El Clasico of the season with a 1-0 win.

Many expected this game to be extremely high scoring given the offensive forces on both teams. Many expected to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominate the playing field.

However, although there were some moments of brilliance from the stars, this game ended up being a very even affair. The defenses of both Madrid and Barca were able to effectively shut down Messi and Ronaldo for long portions of the game.

Both Pepe and Albiol were solid in the back. They closed down Messi when he started one of his trademark mazy dribbles and forced him to pass the ball away.

The offense of Barca wasn't clicking as it usually did, and even Xavi wasn't able to make his defense-splitting passes like normal. It took a great cross for Dani Alves and a fantastic volley from substitute Ibrahimovic to decide the game.

Messi did lose the Real defenders late in the game to go one-on-one with Casillas but Casillas denied El Mesias the goal.

On the other side of the field, Madrid was surprisingly able to grind out more chances than their opponents.

Early on, Kaka set up Ronaldo to go one-on-one with Valdes, but Valdes saved CR9's shot with a great save.

Later on, Kaka was again the provider, this time setting up Marcelo, whose shot was superbly blocked by Barca captain Puyol.

Ronaldo was not shut down by the Barcelona defense as Messi was, although Puyol and Pique did a thorough job of stopping him when it mattered the most.

He was able to pull off some of his trademark stepovers and his speed did trouble the back line, but his crosses were always dealt with.

Kaka also did a good job, though he was slow to react many times. He was able to show his technique with some great dribbles and also set up his teammates with some great passes—but many times he was playing at a slower pace than the rest of his team.

The Barca midfield was not as dominant as it usually is; Madrid's passing was actually better than Barcelona's.

Sergi Busquet's didn't impress at all. He was sent off after his second yellow card and had almost no effect on the game.

A red card may have sent off Lassana Diarra, but that does not tell the whole story of his game. He was all over the field cleaning up loose balls and helping out the Madrid offense.

He was a standout performer.

Both goalkeepers performed when called upon, saving similar shots from Messi and Ronaldo.

Between Xabi Alonso and Xavi, the former Liverpool star was the more mobile of the two. He was able to get better touches and better passes.

This El Clasico didn't see some amazing showboating from the stars of the team, but it was a thoroughly even affair. It was a great game, and a great goal was scored.

This game was a great example of football's beauty; one team may be better by small amount, but a moment of brilliance can completely change the end result.