Barcelona’s39-game run in all competitions ended on Saturday night, as arch-rivals Real Madrid won 2-1 at the Nou Camp, despite being reduced to ten men.
The Catalan giants took the lead through centre-back Gerard Pique, before Real Madrid equalised through a volley from Karim Benzema. Controversial Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos was dismissed for a lunge on Luis Suarez on 83 minutes.
It seem that the home side would capitalise on their one man advantage, but instead just two minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo fired in the visitors second and winning goal.
The win is likely to mean very little in the grand scheme of the race for La Liga, as Real are still seven points behind their arch nemesis. City rivals Atletico Madrid have cut the gap on Barcelona to six points though, so strangely the win may benefit Diego Simeone’s men more than Los Blancos.
The club from the Spanish capital will see this as a minor blip in their bid to win the Spanish crown title once again. Luis Enrique’s side have been fantastic this season and El Clasico was a rare time that the Blaugrana’s front three Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi failed to get on the scoresheet.
One thing that may have resulted from this win is an increased confidence in boss Zinedine Zidane, whose future as the clubs boss has been in doubt. This result may well help the French legend stay in the Real Madrid hot seat beyond the summer.