Read Sid Lowe’s match report from the game.
Barcelona’s last three fixtures are:
- Villarreal (H)
- Levante (A)
- Real Sociedad (H)
You’d expect them to emerge unscathed from those matches, which would complete a staggering achievement. They had to work hard tonight but deserved at least a point for an excellent second-half performance with 10 men. Thanks for your company, goodnight.
Zidane gives Valverde a friendly slap on the cheek. Both are smiling and seem happy with life. That was crtacking entertainment, and the upshot is that Barcelona should - should - go through the league season unbeaten.
Full time: Barcelona 2-2 Real Madrid
Peep peep! Barcelona’s long unbeaten run goes on after a lively draw against Real Madrid.
90+3 min Paulinho wins a corner for Barcelona, which might be enough for them to see this game out.
90+2 min Barcelona waste a bit of time with their last substitution. Luis Suarez is replaced by Paco Alcacer.
90+1 min There will be four minutes of added time.
90 min It’s all Real. Umtiti makes a vital interception from Modric’s cross.
89 min Suarez is down again after a strong but fair tackle.
86 min Suarez is down after a challenge with Ramos, but Real play on. Eventually the ball goes out of play, at which point there is a predictable row between players on both sides.
84 min Marcelo’s dangerous cross towards Bale is headed behind by Jordi Alba. That leads to another corner, before which Real make their final substitution: Toni Kroos is replaced by Mateo Kovacic.
82 min Moments later, Messi flips the ball around Casemiro and tries to blast it past Navas from a ridiculous angle. Navas was well positioned and beat it behind for a corner.
82 min Ramos gives the ball to Messi, who manipulates the ball onto his left foot and curls just wide of the far post.
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81 min Vazquez cushions a cutback to Modric, who smacks the bouncing ball over the bar from 20 yards.
80 min ... which is played short and worked infield for Vazquez, who mis-hit shot is kicked away by Pique.
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80 min Barcelona looked in control at 2-1 but now they are hanging on a little. Vazquez wins a corner down the right...
79 min “Bale is just what United need,” says David Flynn. “A left-sided attacker who isn’t as good as he used to be. Perfect.”
But he plays on the right.
78 min “There are very few things more entertaining, and better for the soul, than a full-blooded Clasico,” says Matt Dony. “Good to see Bale being a bit nawty; matches like this can bring it out of anyone. You never wish ill on people, but the thought of Ronaldo possibly missing the final does excite me. I mean, it’d be a shame for a big showpiece event, but, but...”
77 min Bale finally gets a yellow card for a foul on Semedo. Marcelo is also booked for dissent. You can see why he wanted a penalty - replays show it was a clear foul by Jordi Alba, not Pique as I first thought.
76 min The popular Marcelo goes over in the area after a risky tackle from Pique. The referee says no penalty. It might have been both a foul and a dive, though it’s hard to be sure as we haven’t seen a replay yet.
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73 min “Aside from Spurs, I don’t see anyone in the Premier League who would Bale,” says Paul Moody. “What do you think?”
If I was United’s manager I’d take him in a heartbeat. Chelsea too, depending on what happens there.
GOAL! Barcelona 2-2 Real Madrid (Bale 72)
Oh my goodness, that is a cracking equaliser from Gareth Bale! It came out of nothing. Benzema’s excellent off-the-ball run allowed Asensio to ease an angled pass towards the D, where Bale ran onto the ball and smacked a superb first-time curler into the corner.
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70 min Real played well before half-time but their second-half performance has been muck.
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69 min Barcelona are sitting on the edge of the area, waiting to win possession and hit Real on the counter attack. That approach almost leads to a third goal when Suarez flips a brilliant first-time pass on the turn that puts Messi through on goal from the halfway line. He scoots into the area and tries to cut a shot across Navas into the far corner. Navas gets down smartly to his left to push it behind for a corner.
67 min Real bring on Lucas Vazquez for Nacho.
66 min Benzema’s cross finds Asensio, who mishits a very difficult volley. Barcelona are in control of this game.
65 min Real are starting to have more of the ball now, though there’s a lack of authority and belief in their attacking. Bale whacks a long-range shot against Umtiti and then appeals for a penalty after being eased off the ball by the same player. There was nothing in it.
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61 min Real are really missing Ronaldo. They haven’t got going at all since half-time.
58 min Barcelona have been brilliant since half-time and almost make it 3-1 when Semedo’s low cross flashes right across the face of goal. Paulinho stretched to reach it and ended up clattering Navas.
57 min A Barcelona substitution: Paulinho replaces the immortal Andres Iniesta, who hugs Lionel Messi and leaves the field to a kind of Mexican wave from the Barcelona fans. We’re not worthy.
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55 min Suarez has a goal disallowed for offside against Rakitic. It was a very tight decision but probably the correct one.
GOAL! Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid (Messi 52)
Moments after Asensio shoots straight at ter Stegen, Messi gives Barcelona the lead with a brilliant goal on the counter-attack! He took a square pass from Suarez just inside the area, shimmied away from Ramos and Casemiro and curled a precise shot past Navas at the near post. I’m pretty sure there was a foul by Suarez on Varane in the build up, but I’m not sure either team have much business on the moral high ground tonight.
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50 min Ronaldo has a slight ankle sprain, according to the chaps on Sky Sports, so I’m sure he’ll be fine to play for Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
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47 min The popular Marcelo robs Iniesta, loafs towards the area and slices a shot over the bar from 20 yards. Barcelona are playing a tight 4-3-2 now, with Semedo at right-back.
46 min The second half is underway.
Both teams make a half-time substitution: Barcelona bring on Nelson Semedo for Philippe Coutinho, and Marco Asensio is on for the presumably injured Cristiano Ronaldo.
Nacho and Pique have just had a row in the tunnel. I suspect this is going to be a very funny second half.
“I don’t know about you, but having thoroughly enjoyed the Champions League semis, I’ve realised I need something other than pure goal-fests,” says Brad McMillan. “I’m happy to admit that the pettiness, childishness and lameness of some of the fouls, followed by exaggerated reactions that wouldn’t look out of place in an Eastenders argument from 1994, is hugely entertaining. The speed and brazenness with which Marcelo got up so quickly, after seeing the red card had been shown, was genuinely impressive. Maybe it’s the bank holiday feeling, but I’d rather be nowhere else than watching this at the moment.”
There’s nothing like it for guilty pleasure. Two of the happiest hours of my so-called career were MBMing the Portugal/Netherlands match at the 2006 World Cup.
Half-time chit-chat
Gene Salorio “I miss Pepe.”
Chris Foley “What a half! Question, was Bale always a bit of a nasty player? He should be off.”
Roy Mora “I want to see the clasico.”
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Half-time reading
Half time: Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid
That was highly enjoyable, with two good goals and loads of aggro. Barcelona players surround the referee at half-time, before Iniesta tells them all to bugger off and show some respect. The second half should be extremely lively.
RED CARD! SERGI ROBERTO IS SENT OFF!
It’s all going off now. Marcelo goes down off the ball and Sergi Roberto gets a straight red card. Pique applauds sarcastically. Replays show that Marcelo ran into Sergi Roberto, who slapped him about the person in response. It was definitely a slap rather than a punch, and to the body rather than the face, but the referee decided it was enough for a red card.
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45+1 min Bale, who should have been booked earlier, is even luckier to avoid a yellow card for studding Umtiti in the back of the leg. That was a weird tackle.
45 min Messi is booked for administering a bit of vigilante justice to Ramos.
43 min Here we are. Suarez and Sergio Ramos are head to head over something or other. Suarez is foaming in all directions, suggesting Ramos elbowed him. The referee gives them both a yellow card.
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42 min A chance for Barcelona. Coutinho angles a nice through pass for Messi, who tries to dance around the outrushing Navas. He can’t quite get the ball out of his feet and Navas is able to palm it away on the stretch.
40 min Kroos plays the ball out to the left for Benzema. He shuffles into the area, moves the ball away from Sergi Roberto and whips a cross shot a few yards wide of the far post.
38 min More Real pressure. Marcelo dinks a deep cross beyond the far post, where Ronaldo monsters everyone out the way and loops a header onto the roof of the net. That was a really good effort.
36 min Umtiti sprays Messi’s free-kick wide from six yards, though he was offside so it wouldn’t have counted.
36 min Bale is lucky not to be booked for a hack at Iniesta, who lured him towards the ball and then whisked it away.
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34 min After a lethargic start, Real are playing excellently and should probably be ahead. Barcelona are having to play on the counter-attack.
32 min Jordi Alba and Modric have a full and frank exchange of views about something or other. Alba shoved Modric in the throat but I don’t think the referee saw it.
31 min Varane is booked for a foul on Luis Suarez.
30 min Coutinho’s cross goes straight out of play. He’s been pretty disappointing so far.
29 min Ronaldo could have scored four already.
28 min This is a terrific spell for Real. Kroos plays a through pass down the inside-left channel to Ronaldo, who cracks a low left-footed shot this far wide of the far post.
27 min Ter Stegen makes a terrific save! Modric eased a superb through pass to Ronaldo, who surged into the area and slammed a low first-time shot towards goal. Ter Stegen was out so quickly and slid towards Ronaldo to make a vital block.
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26 min Real break through Marcelo and then Benzema. He plays the ball back to Kroos, who wafts over from 20 yards.
24 min Another chance for Ronaldo, who heads over the bar from Nacho’s near-post cross. That was a decent opportunity, though the height of the cross made it difficult for him to get over the ball. It might have been different if he’d had a running jump.
22 min Gareth Bale has hardly touched the ball. It’d be fairly surprising if he didn’t return to the Premier League this summer.
20 min Barcelona’s full backs, Jordi Alba and particularly Sergi Roberto, have been a major threat in the first 20 minutes.
19 min Messi, near the halfway line, plays an absurd pass over the defence to find Jordi Alba, who volleys over on the stretch. That wasn’t far away from being one of the greatest passes of all time.
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17 min Ronaldo is back on. Man’s a beast.
16 min Ronaldo is limping. He was challenged strongly by Pique when he scored. With the Champions League final a few weeks away, it’s probably not worth taking a risk with his fitness.
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GOAL! Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid (Ronaldo 15)
An equaliser out of nothing! Ronaldo backheeled the ball down the left to the overlapping Kroos, who chipped a superb cross towards the unmarked Benzema at the far post. He planted a header back across the six-yard box, where Ronaldo arrived to stab the ball into the net from three yards.
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13 min Sergi Roberto’s cutback finds Suarez, who goes around Navas and falls over. It looked like a dive, and the referee wasn’t interested in giving a penalty.
12 min Nacho is booked for planting his studs into the back of Suarez’s leg.
GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid (Suarez 10)
Brilliant goal. Suarez, in his own half, flicks a lovely pass behind the defence for Sergi Roberto. He hares into the space down the right and lifts a precise cross towards the far post, where Suarez arrives late to slam a volley past Navas.
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9 min It’s all a bit low key, which is slightly surprising: I thought Real would be desperate to stop Barcelona going the whole season unbeaten.
7 min Ronaldo shoots straight at Ter Stegen from a ridiculous angle on the left wing.
6 min Real have gone back to the old 4-3-3 formation, with Ronaldo on the left. It’s 2014 all over again! Ronaldo, played through on goal by Marcelo, is flagged offside and wags his finger at the linesman. That was extremely close; I think he was just onside.
5 min On reflection, I think Suarez’s shot was blocked by the covering Varane rather than Navas.
4 min An early chance for Barcelona. Messi slips a pass down the side of the defence for Suarez, whose first-time shot is excellently blocked by the outrushing Navas.
2 min “When you mentioned ‘Iniesta’s last Clásico’, I initially thought you might be referring to a pre-match glass of the old grape juice,” says Bill Hargreaves. “But then I realised that the great man is, of course, playing his last Real game in front of his old home crowd. On the subject of last games in front of home crowds, what are your thoughts on M. Wenger’s best successor?”
I’d give it to Eddie Howe. If nothing else – and there is plenty else - it would be great if Arsenal followed the revolutionary appointment of a foreign manager in 1996 with the revolutionary appointment of an English manager in 2018.
1 min Peep peep! Real Madrid kick off to hearty boos from the home crowd.
The teams exchange pre-match handshakes, and it’s time for some action.
Letters page “Iniesta is lovable indeed,” says Charles Antaki. “I can’t think of an English equivalent of Iniesta’s valediction; Bobby Charlton’s perhaps? But we didn’t really know much about him; I imagine he was just presented with a gold watch and dispatched with a firm handshake, to generally warm applause and not a great deal more. Our closer-seeming intimacy with players nowadays amplifies the emotions. But there does have to be something authentically there to amplify, and Iniesta’s extraordinary skill, humility and decency seem real enough. And too rare to pass without celebration.”
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This is Andres Iniesta’s last clásico. If you don’t adore the man, I prescribe an urgent soul transplant.
🎩 @andresiniesta8 ❤️ #ElClásico
— FC Barcelona 🏆🏆 (@FCBarcelona) May 6, 2018
🔵🔴 Força Barça! pic.twitter.com/0XhiksQYfk
In other news, Juventus are going to win Serie A for the seventh consecutive season. Napoli could only draw 2-2 at home to Torino today, which leaves Juve needing a point from the last two games.
Team news
Gareth Bale starts for Real, and Raphael Varane is fit. The teams are otherwise as expected, with Barcelona in their usual 4-4-2 formation. Dave Bassett knew all along.
Barcelona (4-4-2) Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Coutinho, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez.
Substitutes: Alcacer, Denis, Paulinho, Semedo, Vermaelen, Dembele, Cillessen.
Real Madrid (4-3-3) Navas; Nacho, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Substitutes: Casilla, Vallejo, Theo, Vazquez, Asensio, Kovacic, Ceballos.
Referee Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez.
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Preamble
Hello. This is a neat twist on an old clásico: a match that means nothing and everything at the same time. La Liga has already been won emphatically by Barcelona, so tonight’s contest has no titular significance, yet Real Madrid could barely be more desperate to win at the Nou Camp.
Their incentive is to stop Barcelona from becoming the first team to go through a La Liga season unbeaten since - yep - Real Madrid in 1931-32. It was an 18-game season in those days, so Barcelona avoiding defeat through a 38-game campaign would be unprecedented in Spanish football.
Real themselves are on the brink of an achievement which, though precedented, would have even greater historical significance. If they beat Liverpool later this month, they will become the first team since Bayern Munich in the mid-1970s to win three consecutive European Cups. It’s been a strange season for Real, who have had a polygamous relationship with the sublime and the ridiculous. If this game doesn’t sharpen their focus and reinforce their clarity, nothing will.
As you’ve doubtless read, Real won’t be giving Barcelona a guard of honour. They are playing titi-tata because Barcelona didn’t salute Real when they won the Club World Cup ahead of December’s Clasico. Reports that grown adults have made a big story of this are unconfirmed.
Kick off is at 7.45pm.
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