Full time in the Clasico! Barcelona made the perfect start of the match as Luis Suarez gained his first La Liga assist to set up Neymar just five minutes in to make it 1-0. The remainder of the first half saw Real Madrid claw themselves back into contention and they eventually equalised through a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. The second period belonged to Los Blancos as they went on to score two more through Pepe and Karim Benzema. Carlo Ancelottis men are just one point behind their Clasico rivals in the league now! Im Martin Macdonald, and it has been a pleasure reporting on the match. Thanks for joining us! 90′ + 3 Yellow Card Cristiano Ronaldo 90′ + 2 Neymar is taken out unceremoniously by Carvajal, who is risking the wrath of the referee is he is still on a yellow card. Messi steps up to take the resulting free kick but it is extremely disappointing from the Argentine, whos set- piece flies harmlessly into the stand. 90′ Three minutes of stoppage time have been added by the referee. It is looking highly unlikely that Barca are going to get anything out of this here, but Madrid will still want to remain compact for the remainder of the game. 89′ Substitution Arbeloa Luka Modric 88′ This makes three changes in five or so minutes from Ancelotti, and all of them, predictably, have been defensive. Modric is sacrificed for Alvaro Arbeloa, who will be tasked with slotting in at the back. Real Madrid are definitely and cleverly preparing for a Barca onslaught! 87′ Substitution Sami Khedira Karim Benzema 86′ Another intelligent switch from the Real Madrid boss as he withdraws Benzema for Sami Khedira, wholl provide yet another defensive body in that midfield. The hosts need it at the moment, as Barca are really probing for a goal back here. 84′ Substitution Asier Illarramendi Isco 84′ Carlo Ancelotti is just trying to solidify his midfield at the moment as he introduces Asier Illarramendi in place of Isco. The former Real Sociedad midfielder will just sit in front of the defence and try to put out any fires that may arise. 82′ Rakitic has received the ball on the outside of the box quite a few times now only to release his team-mate too wide with a pass down the channel. On a couple of occasions Dani Alves has had to burst a gut to get to the byline to dig out a cross, but it has been food and drink for Pepe and Sergio Ramos. 80′ Barca are just showing signs of danger here as we approach the last 10 minutes. For the past couple of minutes Madrid have been camped inside their own have as Los Cules look for an opening, but the home defence is remaining solid for the moment. 78′ Neymar attempts to get the better of Carvajal on the wing but cant get by the Madrid defender so cuts inside before passing in to Rakitic. The Croatian finds Messi inside the box and the Argentine twists and turns before digging out a cross, but Casilass collects easily. 76′ The Santiago Bernabeu crowd are tempting fate slightly here as they chant OLE whenever their side make a pass. Might be a bit early to start the teasing; we still have over 15 minutes remaining including stoppage time! 74′ Yellow Card Daniel Carvajal 74′ James brilliant loops the ball over the head of Mathieu down the wing before showing his pace with a run forward. Benzema chases a pass behind Pique and eventually wins the ball before teeing up the Colombian, whos drilled shot is blocked on the edge of the box. 72′ Substitution Sergi Roberto Andrés Iniesta Luján 72′ Some worrying scenes for Barcelona at the moment as it doesnt look like Iniesta will be able to continue. The Barca captain, who took the armband when Xavi went off, just pulls up as he attempts a shot pass to the wing. Hell be replaced by Sergi Roberto, who is just getting ready on the touchline. 70′ Benzema is brought down cynically by Busquets inside the centre circle but the Frenchman quickly dusts himself off to jump up and instigate a counterattack. He drives forward and slides a pass to the left for Ronaldo, but the return pass is intercepted by Mathieu. 69′ Substitution Pedro Luis Suárez 68′ There will be no goalscoring debut for Luis Suarez tonight. The former Liverpool striker, who surprised many by starting the match, is withdrawn for Pedro, wholl feature down the right of that attacking Barcelona trio. 66′ Suarez receives the ball to feet inside the box and looks to shift past Sergio Ramos, but the Madrid defender remains solid and clears. Iniesta collects the clearance and looks for the Uruguayan with a dinked pass through the middle, but the latter cant stretch out his leg to take in possession. 64′ Madrid counterattack again here and for a minute it is two versus one! Marcelo gallops into midfield and lays the ball to the right for Ronaldo, but the Portugueses shot is blocked by Mascherano, who does brilliantly to make up the ground! 62′ Barcelona have a hell of a lot of work to do to get back into this near. They are two behind, but with the firepower they have through Messi, Neymar, and Suarez, they are always capable of grabbing one or two goals! 61′ Assist James Rodríguez 61′ Goal Karim Benzema: 3 - 1 GOOOOAAALLLLL GOOOAAAALLL GOOOAAALLL!! MADRID EXTEND THEIR LEAD!!! Iniesta and Mascherano get in a mix up near the touchline and Isco steals possession. The ball finds its way to James who threads a lovely pass in behind for Benzema, who smashes a strike into the bottom-left corner! Three-one! 60′ Substitution Ivan Rakitic Xavi 59′ Iniesta sprays a lovely pass to the right wing for Dani Alves who takes one touch before attempting a cross inside. Ronaldo, who does well to get back into a defensive position, takes the ball straight in the face! That looked a sore one, but he looks like he is okay! 57′ Saaaaave by Casillas! Mathieu takes a couple of strides forward from the halfway line and decides to have a crack at goal. He hits a tremendous strike towards the top left corner but the Madrid keeper gets across goal to palm the attempt wide! Great stop! 55′ Suarez turns excellently near the halfway line and bursts towards goal before drilling a pass out wide to Neymar. The Uruguayan gets into the box and almost gets past Sergio Ramos with a cheeky touch inside, but ends up losing the ball before conceding the free kick. 53′ Madrid are looking confident here as they look to increase their lead. Any time they venture into the final third they are looking dangerous, and Barca in turn are looking shaky at the back! They are still in this, but they wont be unless they can tone down Madrids tempo! 51′ That was pretty terrible defending from Barca! Mascherano looked like the nearest player to Pepe, but he didnt even jump to contest the corner kick, and it was an easy header in the end for the Madrid defender! 50′ Assist Toni Kroos 50′ Goal Pepe: 2 - 1 GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL FOR REAL MADRID! The hosts take the lead!! The corner kick is whipped into the box and Pepe rises above everyone to bullet a terrific header into the bottom corner past Bravo! Two-one! 50′ Wonderful block by Pique! It is two versus two in a Real Madrid counterattack and Benzema slides the ball to the right for Ronaldo, who unleashes a driven strike at goal! The Barca defender makes up the ground and makes the important tackle! 48′ Neymar opens up his stride down the left and passes inside to Messi, who turns before releasing Dani Alves down the right channel. The Barca right-back looks for Suarez inside the box with a powerful, low cross but it is blocked at the front post. 47′ Suarez receives the ball to feet and turns sharply before driving towards goal, only to be scythed down by Modric. The Croatian somehow evades a yellow card and the Barcelona players are surrounding the referee with an inquisition. It was as clear a booking as the Barca ones, but the referee just gives the free kick. 46′ The Clasico is back under way! Half time in Santiago Bernabeu. How fast was that 45 minutes?! Barcelona made the perfect start to the match when they scored just five minutes in through Neymar, with Luis Suarez gaining his first La Liga assist in the process. Real Madrid rallied as the half went on though and eventually equalised through a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty after Pique handled inside the box. This game is on a knife- edge, folks! What a second half we have in store! 43′ JAMES RODRIGUEZ! A great chance wasted! The Colombian sprays a lovely ball out to the left wing for Marcelo, who returns the favour with a superb cross into the box. James, who had followed his run into the box, fails to get a decent connection on his header! WIDE! 41′ Barcelona have indeed did the smart thing and just found their touch in the middle of the park again with their short passing game. Busquets, Iniesta, and Xavi have all been involved heavily as they make the Madrid midfield work for some possession. 39′ In a rather fascinating duel down the right-hand side, Dani Alves initially does brilliantly to sprint back and claw the ball away from the feet of Isco, but within a few seconds the Madrid man does the same and reclaims the ball in his own right! 38′ Yellow Card Andrés Iniesta Luján 37′ This ref is generating quite the signatures in his book here! Iniesta is the latest Barcelona player to receive a yellow card and it is for a cynical challenge on Modric as the Croatian attempted to burst into midfield. That makes Messi, Neymar, Pique, and Iniesta in the book now! 36′ The Santiago Bernabeu crowd exploded with that equalising goal! The home side have their tails up now so it is important for Barcelona that they keep their heads, particularly at the back! 35′ Penalty Goal Cristiano Ronaldo: 1 - 1 GOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLL FOR REAL MADRID!! LOS BLANCOS EQUALISE!! Ronaldo steps up and confidently dispatches the penalty into the bottom-right past Bravo, who concedes his first goal in the league this season! One- one! 34′ Yellow Card Piqué 34′ PENALTY TO REAL MADRID!!! Marcelo bursts down the left- hand side and hits the byline before reversing a cross into the box. In Piques attempts to block the ball he stops it with his hand, and the referee wastes no time in pointing to the spot! The defender also receives a yellow for the offence! 33′ James curls a corner into the box and Ronaldo rises above everyone to power a header at goal, but his attempt is blocked by a combination of Mathieu and Pique. Ronaldo is demanding a penalty for a yellow but it would have been extremely harsh! 31′ I mentioned that potential penalty a few minutes ago when Marcelo pulled Neymar around inside the box. However, Barcelona have also been lucky not to have been penalised as Pique looked to have grabbed the shirt of Benzema off the ball. That makes it 1-1 on penalty appeals then! 30′ For the first time in the match Mathieu gets all the way up the pitch to the opposite byline and attempts to smash a cross in to the danger area, but who is there for Madrid? Carvajal of course! He puts the ball behind for a corner with a strong block. 29′ Neymar goes one-on one with Carvajal but once again the former Leverkusen man defends solidly to deny the Brazilian, who comes out of the box before attempting a pacey one-two with Suarez, but the return pass ends up going straight through to Casillas. 27′ Fantastic challenge form Carvajal! Another teasing cross comes into the Real Madrid box and Neymar looks poised to turn it into the net, but before he can pull the trigger the right-back comes in with a goal-saving tackle! 26′ Ronaldo picks up possession on the left and drives towards the Barcelona defence as the home crowd up the volume. The Portuguese looks to step inside past Busquets but goes down under the challenge of the midfielder! That was far too theatrical! The referee waves play on! 24′ Penalty shout for Barcelona! The resulting corner kick comes in from Messis chance and Marcelo is all over Neymar inside the box, but the referee doesnt see it! Madrid let off the hook; that looked like a spotkick! 23′ MESSIIII! HOW HAS THAT NOT GONE IN?! Suarez picks out his team-mate six yards out with a wonderful, teasing cross from the right wing and the Argentine only has Casillas to beat, but the Real Madrid keeper comes out on top with a great close range save! 21′ Barcelona have did well to curb the ascendancy of Madrid in the last couple of minutes or so. The hosts intensified their tempo after going a goal down and Barca were on the ropes slightly, but Enriques men are frustrating the Santiago Bernabeu crowd once again with their patient passing. 20′ Ronaldo, who has already had a speculative long range effort from goal, tries his luck again with an attempt outside the box. He initially did well to create space for himself inside the channel but the shot is easily collected by Bravo at his near post. 18′ Mathieu, who has shown plenty of attacking ambition down that left-hand side so far, gets into an advanced position once again and looks to whip a cross into the box. The delivery is decent but Pepe is positioned well to turn the danger away. Kroos collects on the edge of the box and moves play up the park. 16′ Kroos collects possession 30 yards out and drops the shoulder a couple of times before finding space for a shot. The German strikes it well but it goes straight down the throat of the grateful Bravo. Five shots on goal so far for Los Blancos, but no goals yet! 15′ The Barca attackers are racking up the yellow cards here! Neymar is the latest player to go into the book and it is for a wayward arm into the face of Pepe! The Brazilian joins his team-mate, Messi, in the book! 14′ Yellow Card Neymar 13′ Madrid have reacted well since going a goal down to that early Neymar strike. Barcelona controlled possession in the early stages and are of course ahead, but the hosts have had the lions share of the chances! None of them converted so far! 11′ How have Real Madrid not equalised?! Benzema has two chances to grab a goal back for Los Blancos as he heads an attempt off the bar before following it up, only to be denied by a wonderful Bravo save! The Barcelona keeper is still yet to concede this season! 10′ Well Messi isnt as lucky this time! The Argentine, in his attempts to heap pressure on the Madrid midfield, ends up going in late on Kroos with a high boot. Hell need to watch himself for the rest of the match! 9′ Yellow Card Lionel Messi 8′ Modric is taken out in the middle of the park by a rather robust challenge from Messi and the Madrid fans are shouting for the first yellow card of the match. The referee uses common sense though and remains calm on this occasion. Already a little nippy out there! 6′ BENZEMA!! HE SHOULD BE DOING BETTER THERE! The Frenchman initially does well to open up his stride through the middle and burst beyond a couple of tackles. He looks to pick out a strike into the corner but his attempt goes just wide! He had time to pick his spot! 5′ An absolutely incredible start to the Clasico, and Suarez makes an instant impact on his debut! It was a delightful pass out to the left channel for his new team-mate. Perfect opening five minutes for Los Cules! 4′ Assist Luis Suárez 4′ Goal Neymar: 0 - 1 GOAAAAAALLLL GOOOOAAAALLLL GOOOAAALLLL!! BARCELONA TAKE THE LEAD!! Suarez collects possession down the right and drives a pass to the left for Neymar. The Brazilian cuts inside and drifts past a couple of challenges before steering a strike into the bottom-right corner! One- nil! 2′ Luis Suarez takes his first touch in La Liga and he is introduced to the league with a chorus of boos from the Santiago Bernabeu crowd! His celebration will certainly be interesting if he can mark his debut with a goal tonight! 1′ THE CLASICO IS UNDER WAY! Im Martin Macdonald, and it is my extreme pleasure to report on the Clasico for you tonight! Here we go! The atmosphere is building inside Santiago Bernabeu as the teams make their way from the tunnel. We could be in for something special tonight folks! With Bale out injured, Isco continues his run of starts for Los Blancos. Ancelotti has also been boosted by the return from injury of Sergio Ramos, who makes the starting XI. It looks like Enrique has tweaked his side tactically ever so slightly for this clash. Jordi Alba has been dropped down to the bench with Jeremy Mathieu moving out to left-back. Javier Mascherano moves back into central defence, which makes room for club captain, Xavi, in midfield. Barcelona (4-3-3): Bravo; Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Mathieu; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Neymar, Messi, Suarez. And the biggest news of the night so far.. Luis Suarez STARTS for Barcelona! Real Madrid (4-3-3): Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Kroos, Modric, Isco; James, Ronaldo, Benzema. TEAM NEWS... As if the Clasico needed any more fascinating aspects, we also have the small matter of Messis goalscoring record. The Argentine is just two goals away from becoming La Ligas all-time leading goalscorer, and you wouldnt put it past him doing it on one of the grandest stages of them all! Should be interesting to see how the Real Madrid fans react if he achieves this feat... Luis Suarez, who has not played football for four months after receiving a ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in the World Cup, not only makes his Clasico debut, but his competitive debut and first appearance of the season for Barcelona. It is unclear as of yet whether the Uruguayan will start the match, but it is highly likely hell be introduced to La Liga tonight. We are possibly looking at the most star-studded clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona of all time. The two best players in the world, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, feature, but are supported by an array of world class talent in their own right. The only major omission from the match is Gareth Bale, who misses out due to a gluteal injury. In case anyone have forgotten, we are also in for a rather interesting Clasico debut this evening... The biggest game on Earth is upon as as the Clasico rivals lock horns for the first time this season. Luis Enrique takes charge of his side for the first time in this fixture as he takes Los Cules to the Spanish capital to face Carlo Ancelotti and his Madrid outfit. Welcome to LIVE coverage of the Spanish Primera Division clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona from Santiago Bernabeu! Good evening football fans! This is the one weve all been waiting for...the Clasico!
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 18:35:20 +0000
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