In what is often labelled the biggest fixture in world football, Real Madrid traveled to the Nou Camp on Saturday afternoon knowing that a win could give them what would be a hugely impressive nine point lead in La Liga as the winter break nears. Instead, it was Barcelona who came closer to victory, only for Sergio Ramos to score a late equaliser.
The first half was a tense affair in a tactical battle between Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane as both teams seemed a little fearful to get forward in numbers, instead opting for throwing themselves into some heavy challenges.
It was, as is often the case, Luis Suarez who made the breakthrough. Neymar whipped in a free-kick for the Uruguayan to head home as he rose above the challenges of Lucas Vazquez and Raphael Varane, leaving Keylor Navas no chance. Then Barcelona grew into the game, with mazey runs from both Neymar and Lionel Messi ending with shots narrowly over the crossbar and the wrong side of the post as they continued to dominate and pressed for a decisive second.
Cristiano Ronaldo, embroiled in recent allegations of tax evasion, and Madrid threatened little until the dying moments. Then, Sergio Ramos found the space in the heart of the penalty area at just the right time to head home and bring the scores level in the 89th minute.
That wasn’t all though as Lionel Messi powered a 20 yard header which was cleared from the line by Casemiro, with a matter of millimetres denying what would have been a sensational winner.
Read on over the next few pages to see what we can learn from the game…