Barcelona vs Real Madrid: 5 talking points

A Messi-less FC Barcelona scored 5 goals past a clueless Real Madrid in the El Clasico. The Blaugrana outfit scored inside 15 minutes of the Clasico through Phillipe Coutinho before Luis Suarez doubled the lead on the half-hour mark. Real Madrid showed character in the second half and got a goal back. But they failed to capitalise on the momentum.

Luis Suarez punished the Los Blancos for their weak defensive play and scored his second of the night in the 75th minute. Suarez and Vidal scored into the dying minutes of the game to the ecstasy of the Camp Nou faithful. Barcelona put an end to their winless run at the Camp Nou against Real Madrid, with their last win dating back to 2015.

The loss has pushed Real Madrid down to the 9th position in the league table, only one point clear of the bottom half. Barcelona, on the other hand, has gone on top of the table, two points clear of Real Madrid.

#5 Barcelona started on the front foot and capitalised on the early momentum

From the moment that Arthur got the possession back in the first minute, Barcelona looked ominous. The Camp Nou faithful cheered their team on, as the Blaugrana saw much of the possession. Barcelona’s build-up play was hardly pressurized by the Los Blancos.

Real Madrid resorted to playing long forward balls towards Bale and Benzema but it didn’t cause many problems to the defence. Marc Andre Ter Stegen only had to deal with long-range shots, all of which were hit straight to him.

Barcelona scored two goals in the first half but they missed plenty of chances that could have put the game to bed. It didn’t haunt them thankfully as they sailed to a comfortable victory.

Barcelona decided to start on a high tempo and that made a huge difference in the result.