A remarkably contentious — almost hilariously so — El Clasico ended 2-2, a result that won’t particularly bother Real Madrid but one that sees Barcelona extend this season’s unbeaten league run to 35 matches. If you’re a Real Madrid fan, Barcelona got away with murder; if you’re a Barcelona fan, Real Madrid got special treatment. So just another El Clasico, really.
As a neutral, that was just great fun. The opening goals from Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo were both fantastically worked and a testament to the beauty of Spanish football.
Things went bonkers just before the halftime whistle as Ramos, Suarez and Messi were shown yellow before Sergi Roberto was given a straight red, giving Real a man advantage for fully 45 minutes.
However, with the Champions League final looming, Ronaldo was pulled at halftime while nursing an apparent ankle injury.
In the second half, Barcelona took a shock lead only seven minutes after the restart. The attack appeared to start with a Suarez foul, but the referee allowed play to go on and Messi did the rest.
Gooooooooool de Messi, gooooool del @fcbarcelona_es, @luissuarez9 parecía cometer falta, le entregó el balón a Messi que con un par de recortes se acomodó y la mandó guardar#beINElClasico pic.twitter.com/9FBRPBLSJU
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) May 6, 2018
20 minutes later, Real found an equalizer through Gareth Bale. The Welshman’s finish was unstoppable.
Goooolaazzooo de @garethBale11, el galés no se lo pensó dos veces y de primera con un tiro con efecto fuera del área puso el empate a dos, tremendo remate de Bale #beINElClasico pic.twitter.com/slqa3bfRI0
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) May 6, 2018
Barcelona’s march towards becoming the first 38-game invincible side in the history of La Liga continues while Real inch closer towards what promises to be a truly spectacular Champions League final.
Barcelona end the season with a home match against Villarreal (6th) on May 9, a trip to Levante (17th) on May 13 and a final home match against Real Sociedad (11th) on May 20.
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