Barcelona vs Real Madrid. Spanish La Liga.
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Monday 7 May 2018 06:34, UK
Barcelona maintained their unbeaten record in La Liga this season despite having a man sent off in a feisty 2-2 draw with Real Madrid on Sunday.
Luis Suarez volleyed Barca into the lead after 10 minutes, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to quickly reply.
The home side were reduced to 10 men late in the first half when Sergi Roberto was shown a straight red card for catching Marcelo around the face.
However, Lionel Messi restored Barca's lead with a fine finish shortly after half-time and Barca held on after Gareth Bale equalised with a brilliant first-time strike in the 72nd minute.
Barca now finish their season with home games against Villarreal and Real Sociedad and a trip to Levante as they look to become the first side to go unbeaten in a 38-game La Liga season.
As expected there was no guard of honour from Real Madrid for the champions, but that soon mattered little as Barca scored a slick opening goal in the 10th minute.
Suarez turned the ball around the corner on halfway for the run of Roberto and he burst forward down the right and crossed for Suarez to expertly volley in.
But Real responded well and levelled with a well-worked goal of their own as Karim Benzema headed Toni Kroos' cross back across goal for Ronaldo to finish.
Ronaldo looked to have hurt himself in scoring, but continued to play on and twice went close as he was denied by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and then shot wide.
A bad-tempered finish to the first half saw Barcelona reduced to 10 men as, after Sergio Ramos and Suarez clashed, Roberto was shown a straight red for catching Marcelo around the face in an off-the-ball incident.
Ronaldo and the ineffective Philippe Coutinho were both withdrawn at half-time, with Real head coach Zinedine Zidane afterwards that Ronaldo needs to undergo a scan on his injury.
Despite having a man less, Barcelona restored their lead early in the second half when Messi danced around two tackles and then finished brilliantly into the bottom corner.
Keylor Navas denied Messi a second goal in the 70th minute when he dived to his left to save, before Bale levelled when he curled in an excellent first-time shot from outside the box.
Real Madrid saw penalty appeals waved away when Jordi Alba caught Marcelo, but it was Barca who went closest to scoring the winner as Messi curled narrowly wide and then forced Navas into a near-post save.
In a game where few players stood out above the rest, Messi takes the honours for his skill and determination. He didn't get much service, particularly with Barcelona down to 10 men, but his goal was expertly-taken and he was twice denied by Navas as he went close to scoring a second.
Barcelona host Villarreal on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports, before travelling to Levante next Sunday. Real go to Sevilla on Wednesday and then host Celta Vigo on Saturday, with both games live on Sky Sports.
