Sergio Ramos spares nobody
Ramos scores the equaliser
Sergio Ramos spares nobody. He dished out the same treatment to Barça in this Clásico (Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid) that he did to Atlético and Sevilla, a last minute goal fruit of his genius and instinct. Dramatic goals in major matches, which means we remember him more for those than for his long, efficient defensive career. His goals have been a major part of Madrid's notable recent successes, which could in May include this Liga, which is far from finished, but which sees Madrid currently sitting comfortably at the top of the table. The result doesn't bury Barça, but leaves them still six points behind. What they can take from the game is that during 20 minutes they played really decent football, had Madrid at their mercy and were so close to making it 2-0.
Real Madrid too prudent
The first half wasn't pleasing on the eye. Rakitic and André Gomes did little for Barça. Sergio Busquets, isolated, flapped about and Messi received no service. With Luis Suárez lost in his battles, there was only Neymar's zeal on offer. Faced with this, Madrid were too prudent. They only cut loose, and not much, with half an hour gone. Zidane's side were miserly in sending their left and right backs forward, taking few risks, and what's more, Benzema had another poor game. Cristiano was left disconnected from his teammates, though he still managed to produce a couple of dangerous shots. When half-time arrived I thought Madrid had let their opportunity slip through their fingers.
Stupendous passage of play from Barcelona
Barcelona came out of the dressing room with more of a spring in their step, seeing LaLiga disappear from their grasp. And they soon had their goal. A run from Neymar, foul from Varane, great free-kick, from Neymar himself, which Luis Suárez headed in after losing Lucas Vázquez. And soon after Iniesta came on. The Camp Nou responded, Messi too, and we were witness to a stupendous passage of play from Barça, in which two clear chances escaped them, one for Neymar and one for Messi. But as they got close to the end, they became more prudent and sat back. Madrid, without Benzema, went for it. An invitation for Sergio Ramos to blast himself onto the front pages of the newspapers. The result: a fair draw.
