El Clasico : A Game for Football Lovers

It's El Classico!! It's amazing!! Defending Champions vs League Leaders. 3rd placed team vs Unbeaten team. But Still BEST vs BEST.  Two sides equally good in each section of the game. Navas vs Ter Stegen, Ramos vs Pique, Modric vs Iniesta, Ronaldo vs Messi.  It was a beautiful game, players respected each other, Real Madrid kept the midfield tight disallowing Suarez any movement to the front and Barca decoded Zidane's tactics before the commencement of 2nd half, which finally made the Bernabeu silent. And Hats Off to Keylor Navas and Ter Stegen who kept the game alive.

Line-Ups

Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Ronaldo, Kroos, Benzema, Modric, Marcelo, Casemiro, Kovacic. Subs: K. Casilla, Nacho, Bale, Theo, Lucas V, Asensio, Isco.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Pique, Rakitic, Sergio, Iniesta, Suarez, Messi, Paulinho, Jordi Alba, Roberto, Vermaelen. Subs: Cillessen, Semedot, Denis Suárez, Mascherano, Digne, André Gomes, Aleix Vidal.

In the title decider match, Zidane keeps Bale on the bench while Barca plays with their best.

1st Half - Real Madrid

It began with a spark. Ronaldo sent the ball behind Ter Stegen before 2 minutes but it was sadly offside  Real Madrid displayed phenomenal performance by keeping Europe's third highest league goal scorers. Real Madrid midfielders marked Barca players well and moved swiftly up front .but after 3o minutes, things started to change as Paulinho run in the box and Messi found him with a through ball and it was a rocket volley towards Navas and yes, he dealt with him perfectly. For Ter Stegen it was a silent game as he was not challenged much other than once Ronaldo made a left-footed attempt towards the right post. Soon after it, Messi provided Paulinho to give the lead to the visitors through his header which was again dealt by strong Navas.   Ronaldo missed a good chance to put the hosts one goal up. His miss made a silence in the ground. Benzema was not so good at finishing and linking up with CR7. His only moment to remember was a headed effort which was a result of a beautiful and a perfect cross of Marcelo into the box.  Masterclass display football resulted in a nil-nil first half.

2nd Half - FC Barcelona

Barca started a bit dominantly. Moving up and down, sneaking away from their markers. And Jordi Alba stepped up too, the way he gave that back heel pass to Iniesta. Now Real Madrid appeared to lose their hold over the game. Hosts seemed to be hesitating to move dribble past Barca players and an attempt of Kroos to provide a through ball in the box to Karim Benzema, who was very ineffective throughout the game, resulted in an interception by Busquet and consequently a goal by Suarez. Barca opened their score with Suarez goal and Roberto's very accurate assist in front of the eyes of Real Madrid defenders. But the real reason for the goal was lack of energy in Real's defenders. They could have made it and blocked either Rakitic, Roberto or Suarez. After that, there was no holding back. A loose Real Madrid midfield allowed Messi to provide an easy and accurate ball to Suarez in the box and it was that loose that Gerard Pique to reached the attacking box. After Suarez's first attempt was saved by Navas, for a moment whole life felt like stopped. Navas was down on his knees, Messi was with the ball and passed it to Suarez and another shot towards the goal and it hits the post and then onto God Paulinho and a header but saved!! But by whom?? Navas was down on the ground, the header is saved by Carvajal the Goalkeeper and he is shown a red card for his skills, a penalty for Barca and Messi scores. After this, Nacho came for Benzema, Kovacic and Casemiro came off for Bale and Asensio. There coming seemed to bring a sense of daring in Real Madrid players as both of them dribbled the ball towards the front especially Bale. He looked confident and challenged Ter Stegen twice in a minute or a two, once tried to finish Modric's cross behind but Goalie denied him and soon after he fired a left-footed screamer from the right wing but was again denied by Ter Stegen. In the last 10 minutes, Ramos tried to do what he loves, a goal in the final minutes but there was again one person stopping the whole Real Madrid team, no matter how hard they hit. Barca was not stopping here. Thanks to Ref, Messi was allowed to take an outside ball to inside and he took it away past Marcelo with a shoe off and assisted substitute Alexis Vidal with shoe less foot and score is 0-3 and after that, there was only one thing left to mention, silenceee...... in Bernabeu .

Verdict: Real Madrid too strong in the first half. They felt like European Champions, controlled league leaders very nicely. But soon, after half an hour, things started to change. Second half was all of Barcelona. They Defensive Duo of Pique and Ex-Gunner Vermaelen was too good. They dealt with Real Madrid's attack too nicely.  But its time to start the reverse countdown for Benzema, his presence doesn't make any difference to the team. Ronaldo too was not in his best form. Paulinho is a good player but he was never this good for spurs. Both the goalkeepers are world class. Marcelo and Carvajal must be appreciated for their game. Roberto, its a treat for Barcelona to have him. One man and so many roles to play. Amazing!!

Ref appeared to be on Barcelona's side, he denied him a couple of penalties, it felt too me. But we can't say that a team can buy the referee. It is a big match and they are too in under pressure and it can lead to some decisions favourable to one of the team. 
From now, Real Madrid will need to step up a lot, if they desire to be Spanish Champions this season. They are on no. 4 and it is not their level of game. Now, title race for Real Madrid seems to be off. Barcelona is cruising towards becoming Spanish Champions again. Overall it was a fantastic game. A Christmas gift for football fans and a bonanza for Asians. We loved it.