Barcelona's unbeaten run of 13 matches came to an end as Real Madrid won the El Clasico match by 3 goals to 1.
Barcelona were 4 points ahead of Madrid before the match. A victory against Madrid would've given Barcelona a 7 point lead at the top of the table. Instead, the 3-1 victory for Madrid decreased the gap to 1 point.
Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez made his 41st El Clasico appearance, 1 less than Madrid's Francisco Gento Clasico's with 42 appearances.
After Neymar's 4th minute opening goal, meant Casillas hasn't had a clean sheet in 12 El Clasico's.
Toni Kroos & James Rodriguez were on El Clasico debut for Madrid and Luis Suárez was on debut for Barcelona.
The clash began with Barcelona scoring a goal in the first 4 minutes in 4 consecutive El Clasico's. Benzema was close to equalising but the keeper pushed it across the face of goal.
Although leading 1-0, Messi became the first player to be booked in the after the referee had let him off the hook after one tackle, the second he punished. Neymar was also booked after he challenged Carvajal with a high elbow.
All of Benzema's efforts came close to ending up at the back of the net. At one stage he hit the post post and crossbar as he searched for an equaliser.
Eventually, Cristiano Ronaldo slotted in a penalty 10 minutes before halftime after Piqué was booked for handling the ball in the penalty area. The goal was the first conceeded by Barcelona this season. However, it was bound to come along against Madrid.
The start of the second half was fast paced. Barcelona were looking to lead again while Madrid were looking to lead for the first time in the match. In this case, the latter applied. Pepe gave Madrid the lead from a corner as Barcelona left him unmarked inside the box.
More good fortune for Madrid when Isco was on the counter-attack. He fed the ball to Cristiano who sent it to James and gave the assistance as Benzema's first half attempts finally paid off. The Frenchman gave Madrid a two goal cushion as they led Barcelona 3-1. That wasn't the end of Benzema since he kept testing the Barcelona defence until he was substituted.
Suárez was expected to make his debut in the El Clasico, which he did. He didn't make as much an impact as he hoped and was substituted for Pedro. Iniesta signalled to the bench to be substituted after what appeared to be a calf muscle strain.
Real Madrid's 3-1 victory was sealed with a Cristiano Ronaldo yellow card.
After that goal by Neymar, if you knew that Real Madrid would win the El Clasico encounter, you are lying!
