Things started great for Barcelona in the first Clásico of the season, but their defense couldn’t stand up to Real Madrid’s lethal attack as Los Blancos won 3-1 at the Bernabéu. Neymar gave Barca a lead less than four minutes in, but a penalty before halftime allowed Madrid to pull even and they overwhelmed the Blaugrana in the second half.
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2014 El Clásico: Final score 3-1, Los Blancos attack overwhelms Barca
The Blaugrana took the lead early but couldn’t hold up defensively against Madrid’s relentless attack.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno
It’s Madrid’s ninth straight win in all competitions, a stretch of games that’s seen them outscore their opponents by a stunning 38-6 margin.
The talk entering the match was all about Barcelona's defense, but it was Real Madrid's defense that broke first just under four minutes after the opening whistle. The build-up through the midfield was outstanding, but the setup pass came from Luis Suárez, who found Neymar in space with a precisely delivered cross field ball. The Brazilian did the rest, taking his time on the dribble before bursting past Pepe and sending a rocket past Iker Casillas.
Karim Benzema came close to evening the match in the 11th minute after Cristiano Ronaldo found him on the far side of the Barca box with one of his amazing passes. Benz's first effort beat Claudio Bravo but rattled off the crossbar, coming back to the striker. Benz dribbled wide but again found woodwork, sending his second effort off the post.
Suárez nearly got his second assist of the match in the 23rd minute when he set up Messi at point blank range in front of the Madrid goal. Messi, who is usually lethal at those moments, sent his touch off the outside of the post, though Casillas did a good job of making himself big and potentially affecting the Argentine striker.
After no call on a Ronaldo penalty shout a few minutes earlier, Real Madrid got their PK in the 34th minute when Marcelo’s low cross caught Gerard Pique on the ground as the ball hit off the defender’s arm. Ronaldo stepped up to the spot and sent Bravo the wrong way, burying his shot to the right to pull Madrid even at 1-1.
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It took just five minutes in the second half for Real Madrid to take their first lead of the match. Pepe got away from his marker on the far side of the area on a corner kick and went up to meet Toni Kroos' cross, heading it down and past Bravo. Poor marking, not the best goalkeeping from Bravo, just a bad sequence for the Blaugrana.
The Barca defense melted down again in the 61st minute and were picked apart by a ruthless Madrid attacking sequence. It started when Isco nimbly danced through two players, then found Ronaldo central with an imperfect pass that forced the Portuguese striker to hit the brakes and spin before moving the ball to James Rodriguez. The Colombian wasted no time sending a ball to Benzema as he ran past a frozen Barca defender. Benz finished off the team goal by turning his body and firing a low shot past Bravo to extend the lead to 3-1.
Things only got worse for Barca in the 72nd minute when Andrés Iniesta was forced off with a leg injury.
Real Madrid: Casillas, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Carvajal, Kroos, James Rodríguez, Luka Modrić (Arbeloa 89'), Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema (Khedira 87'), Isco (Illarramendi 84')
Goals: Ronaldo (35’), Pepe (50’), Benzema (61’)
Barcelona: Bravo, Mathieu, Piqué, Mascherano, Alves, Busquets, Iniesta (Roberto 72’), Xavi (Rakitić 60’), Neymar, Messi, Suárez (Pedro 69’)
Goals: Neymar (4’)
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3 things
1. Luis Suárez makes Barcelona’s attack SO much better - Pedro and Munir have done alright on the right wing this season, but the impact of having the Uruguayan striker on the field is amazing. It’s really not fair having a front line of Neymar, Messi and Suárez and assuming they all stay healthy -- and Ol’ Chompy behaves -- they’re going to do some serious damage to the psyche of opposing defenses and goalkeepers. The only problem today is that Suarez is not match fit yet and he ran out of gas by halftime.
2. Gerard Piqué is the weakest link - The Barcelona defense isn't perfect, but it's much better than last year. Javer Mascherano is solid, Jeremy Mathieu was ok, but then there's Gerard Piqué. You, sir, are the weakest link. Piqué conceded a penalty in the first half and probably could've been called for another. He's just not playing well at all right now. That doesn't mean he can't come around, but it's time for Marc Bartra to get more time if Mathieu is going to be stuck out wide.
3. Saint Iker’s Redemption - It’s just one game, but when is the last time we saw Iker Casillas look this good? He was all over the place making big saves, cutting down angles, diving at full extension to deny shots from distance. It’s like he found the fountain of youth or something! We’ll have to see if his play continues to trend in a positive direction; perhaps the consistent playing time is finally getting him back into form.
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