Real Madrid will go to bed on Saturday night as leaders of LaLiga Santander after their 2-1 win over Barcelona in El Clasico at Valdebebas.
Zinedine Zidane won the tactical battle with Ronald Koeman, with the Catalans only gaining a foothold in the game in the final stages.
Zidane had plenty to think about for this game. With Liverpool on Wednesday in mind, he made changes with 20 minutes to go. To his vindication, the substitutions didn’t have an effect on the result and allowed some key players like Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos to rest ahead of the Champions League.
It was if Kroos was playing snooker for Real Madrid‘s second goal. His freekick took not one but two deflections on its way to the back of the net. Sergino Dest and Jordi Alba were unable to prevent the ball from finding its way in.
It’s fair to say Lucas Vazquez came off worse after a challenge with Sergio Busquets in the first half. The Real Madrid man was forced off with a knee injury off the back of it, while the Barcelona midfielder carried on.
This was the second Clasico to be played behind closed doors and hopefully the last. After the eerie experience at the Camp Nou earlier this season, Real Madrid once again put the circumstances to the back of their minds to take the victory, this time at the Estadio Di Stefano.
