Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid: Five talking points

Luis Suarez’ second half goal was enough to secure a victory for Barcelona and open up a four point gap at the top of the table against opponents Real Madrid.The home side started the game on the front foot and Jeremy Mathieu converted Lionel Messi’s free kick to give them the lead. The visitors stepped up a notch after that and Cristiano Ronaldo soon got them back into the game after some fantastic build-up play by Benzema.The Catalans dominated the second half and should have scored at least a couple of goals, but the Uruguayan striker’s calm finish proved to be the difference in the end.Here are the major talking points from the game:

#1 Something needs to be done about simulation

With the world's most expensive player, the winner of the Ballon d’Or, the winner of the European Golden Shoe and the winner of the World Cup Golden Ball, this was supposed to be an exhibition of fantastic football. Instead, the 400 million people who tuned into watch the game witnessed the ugly facet of football which nobody likes –  simulation, feigning injury and a tendency to try to con the referee into awarding a free kick or sending a player off.

To be fair, Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz did really well to spot the fouls from the dives. But the alarming tendency with which the likes of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo went to the ground was simply appalling. On another day, with a less authoritative referee, the whole game could've been spoiled thanks to the player's theatrics.