Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, 2015 El Clásico: Final score 2-1 as Blaugranes overwhelm Madrid

The Clásico is always an event to be thoroughly enjoyed, and this edition was no exception, as Barcelona’s attack simply overwhelmed Real Madrid’s defense throughout the course of the match, more than earning all three points in their 2-1 win.

Things started delightfully open, with both sides racing up and down the pitch trying to gain an advantage over their arch-rival. Barcelona were able to repeatedly carve open Real Madrid’s defense in the opening of the match, but struggled to get shots off to take advantage of their dominance. Real, on the other hand, seemed to pull the trigger at every opportunity, but they had a hard time getting their chances on target as Barcelona mostly restricted them to shots from outside the area.

Real Madrid had probably the best chance of the opening spell of the match despite Barcelona’s quality when Cristiano Ronaldo got on the end of a ball from Marcelo in the box, but his shot clanged off the crossbar and away to safety. Not to be outdone by his chief best-player-in-the-world rival, Lionel Messi had a chance to line up over a free kick shortly afterwards, sending a delightful ball into the box smack in the middle of a bubble in Madrid’s marking. That bubble was occupied by Jeremy Mathieu, who had somehow slipped free of Sergio Ramos to nod home Messi’s cross, and the Blaugrana faithful erupted in joy at the 1-0 lead.

Barcelona continued to dominate possession, but continued to struggle to get chances. Madrid’s defense was playing as strong as they possibly could, showing no fear in their efforts to stop Barcelona’s attackers. Neymar and Luis Suarez took the brunt of Ramos’ and Pepe’s “tender” ministrations, getting battered around every time they tried to charge in to the Madrid penalty area. That created plenty of opportunity for Madrid to launch counter attacks, and one of those saw los Merengues finally put Barcelona to the sword.

Just after the half hour mark passed, Toni Kroos fed Karim Benzema in the box. The Frenchman recognized that he didn’t have a good angle or chance to get in on goal, so he cleverly flicked it over to the top of the box, where the ball was met by a streaking Ronaldo and fired home with ease. It seemed almost as though Barcelona had completely lost track of where Ronaldo was on the pitch, a shocking loss of concentration that essentially undid all the good work Barcelona had done earlier in the match.

Madrid kept up the pressure on Barcelona whenever they won the ball back, and the Blaugrana defense struggled badly to keep Madrid at bay. Goalscorer Mathieu was doing everything he could at the back to cut out through balls and supporting runs, but Gerard Pique struggled mightily in his efforts to keep Karim Benzema at bay, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale tore Barcelona fullbacks Dani Alves and Jordi Alba to shreds time-after-time.

Ronaldo and Bale appeared to have given Madrid the lead a few minutes before halftime, with a Ronaldo flick-on setting Bale up right in front of goal to fire home, but the assistant referee’s flag went up just as the ball was snapping the back of the net. It seemed that Ronaldo was judged to be off during the buildup, though replays made it appear that Ivan Rakitic was holding him onside, while Bale was a full yard onside when Ronaldo’s flick came his way. Still, despite Madrid’s protests, the match entered halftime with the scoreline level at 1-1

Madrid kept up the pressure coming out of halftime, but Barcelona seemed to have gathered themselves somewhat and grew in confidence again. They very nearly had a chance to score when a booming pass from Rakitic over the top came down in front of Neymar, who had Luis Suarez out in space unmarked to his right, but Pepe was able to race over and knock the ball away in time to keep Neymar from taking advantage.

Madrid couldn’t keep Barcelona forever, though. Another ball over the top, this time from Dani Alves, caught Madrid’s defense stretched out after a counter. Suarez ran on to it after finding the seam between Ramos and Pepe that left the two defenders helpless to stop him from controlling the ball with a gorgeous first touch and blasting home past a helpless Iker Casillas.

That second Barcelona goal seemed to kick the match’s aggression level to a whole new gear as Madrid tried to equalize and Barca tried to find a third, with players from both sides unleashing wild and very assertive challenges. After a first half that saw five players enter the books, five more were booked by the 75th minute and several players could have been off for a second yellow, most notably Madrid fullback Dani Carvajal, who pulled back Neymar on an open run on goal, but the foul somehow went uncalled.

As the final 20 minutes ticked away, the highlight was Barcelona’s continued struggles in front of goal. Time-after-time Messi or Neymar would find themselves in front of goal and either fire wide, over, or in to a Madrid defender. Madrid’s defense was barely hanging on, surviving more by luck than anything else.

Madrid’s attack tried to help their defense out, but their best chance of the half went begging for more when Claudio Bravo barely managed to reach out and parry a thunderous shot from Karim Benzema around the far post. Barcelona kept getting the better chances as they stretched out Madrid’s defense again and again, but still couldn’t convert the chances.

Madrid couldn’t manage much better. Barcelona’s defense was firmed up significantly by bringing Sergio Busquets as a substitute, and their breakthrough just never came.

When the final whistle came, it was Barcelona celebrating at the Camp Nou. The win is a huge kick of momentum for a Blaugranes side that already had plenty of it, and they now own a four-point lead atop the La Liga table that Real Madrid may struggle to overcome. Now it’s time for the Merengues to take stock and see what they can do to improve their form, while Barcelona smile and march on towards the finish line.

Goals: Mathieu (19’), Suarez (56’)

Goals: Ronaldo (31’)