Gareth Bale scored a vital on his return to Real Madrid’s starting line as Los Blancos came from behind twice to force a 10-man Barcelona who had Sergi Roberto sent off to a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou on Sunday in the season’s last El Clasico tie.
A feisty first-half in the Clasico saw Real Madrid restore parity with Barcelona with Sergi Roberto sent off and Gareth Bale controversially avoiding red himself.
Sergi Roberto’s 50 yards run down the right and a superb cross above the head of Lionel Messi to Luis Suarez, who volleyed home as the ball dropped from the air put Barcelona in front in the opening ten minutes.
Five minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo found Toni Kroos, whose excellent cross was headed across goal by Karim Benzema. Ronaldo charged ahead of Gerard Pique to turn it home from about three yards out for the equaliser.
After the break, Luis Suarez took the ball from Raphael Varane in what Real fans would adjudge was a foul. He found Messi, who rolled it onto his left before sending a 20-yard shot flying past Keylor Navas into the back of the net.
But their jubilation was short-lived as Marco Asensio picked out Gareth Bale who curled a sweet first-time shot from 20 yards, leaving Marc-Andre ter
Stegen with no chance with 18 minutes left on the clock.
SETTING THE SCENE
Gareth Bale’s surprising inclusion was a throwback to years gone by as Zinedine Zidane scrapped his 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 hybrid and reverted to the 4-3-3 that brought Madrid so much success, spearheaded by the Welshman, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Raphael Varane also recovered from a calf injury in time to partner Sergio Ramos in central defence, although Isco missed out completely while Dani Carvajal was only a substitute.
Barca,
meanwhile had a full-strength squad with Philippe Coutinho getting the nod over Ousmane Dembele on the right wing and Andres Iniesta passed fit for his last-ever Clasico.
This tie is the fifth meeting between the two sides this season, the pair having locked horns in the International Champions Cup and Supercopa during preseason
, with Barca winning the former and Madrid going on to thrash their arch-rivals 5-1 over two legs.
However, December’s Clasico in La Liga saw the Catalans come out on top, thrashing their arch-rivals 3-0 in December.
More to follow…
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