Sergio Ramos did it again. The clásico was heading into its last minute and Real Madrid were facing the end of a 32-game unbeaten run, when the man who rescued them in the 94th minute of the 2014 European Cup final leapt to head in another Luka Modric delivery and score another dramatic equaliser. And, while it could never be as significant as that night in Lisbon, it could prove a huge moment too – one that will go some way to defining the title race in Spain. “In games like this, Sergio is always there,” Zinedine Zidane said.
There he was, leading the charge to a Camp Nou corner flag, celebrating team-mates in his wake. A match that had appeared to have slipped away, Barcelona leading 1-0 through Luis Suárez’s header but unable to add to it, had been levelled, extending Madrid’s run and maintaining a six-point lead at the top. “The thing that stands out, again, is this team’s heart,” Zidane said. “We believed right until the end and got a draw that is very important.” The end was right: even after the goal, Casemiro cleared off the line to cling onto a precious point.
Barcelona could hardly believe it. Coach Luis Enrique likened this to getting a jug of cold water poured over your head; a real downer. They had wasted the opportunity to reduce the gap to three points, and push aside the pessimism – all the more so with the return of Andrés Iniesta, who came on as a second-half substitute. Instead, the lead remains six, and while it could have been worse, that’s significant even at this early stage. Madrid have not been this far clear since the spring of 2012 when they won their only league title in the last eight years.
Real had been in a good position from the start, until Suárez’s header in the 53th minute. “Last year we went there with our arses clenched,” Zidane had said. Scared in other words. “But,” he insisted, “this time is different.” It was supposed to be, at least. That night in April, Madrid began 10 points behind, engulfed with doubts. This time, Barcelona were scared, knowing that defeat would be disastrous. “They can afford the luxury of losing, we can’t,” Gerard Piqué had admitted.
For much of the first half, though, it appeared that neither side felt that luxury, unprepared to take a decisive step forward. For a game with so much talent, it was a little disjointed, lacking continuity, maybe even a little fearful: a draw would at least delay judgment, they knew. Rarely did the ball move with pace or precision. Barcelona did not exercise control – a familiar problem of late. Sergio Busquets was improved in midfield but Ivan Rakitic to the right only rarely got hold of the ball and on the other side André Gomes was effectively absent again.
If anyone needed to seek victory it was Barcelona, yet the few opportunities were Madrid’s – particularly on their left, where Sergi Roberto was, or more accurately, was not. Instead, there was space in which to run, even if there was occasionally a reluctance to do so. Lucas Vázquez appealed for a penalty after two minutes and he also clipped a neat ball for Karim Benzema’s blocked shot and found Cristiano Ronaldo for the half’s best opportunity. Ronaldo went past Pique and slipped the ball through Javier Mascherano’s legs but could only toe-poke into goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen’s hands.
At the end of the half, Benzema progressed – again behind Sergi Roberto – and his cross was almost turned in by Piqué. From the corner, Raphaël Varane’s header was saved. That was Madrid’s fourth attempt on target; Barcelona had just one. Suárez had seen the best opportunity blocked. This was not the way it was supposed to be: you have to go back 39 clásicos to the last 0-0. Madrid seemed comfortable; Barcelona were crying out for Iniesta off the bench, even if the urgency was soon reduced when they took a second-half lead.
Neymar’s free-kick from the left was struck hard into the six-yard box, bending inwards. Suárez backed away from Vázquez and headed home. This was a different game now, Iniesta was sent on and the ball became Barcelona’s. Indeed, Zidane’s reaction, despite trailing, was to send on Casemiro for Isco. If it was protection he sought, he did not immediately get it, but Casemiro would be decisive in the very last minute. That it got that far was, by then, a surprise.
Lionel Messi found Iniesta who laid it to Neymar who, with a swivel of his hips, slipped past Daniel Carvajal. From eight yards, the goal at his mercy, the Brazilian fired beyond goalkeeper Keylor Navas but over.
Next, Iniesta hit the side-netting and soon after that Messi and Neymar combined to create another opportunity. Messi pulled his shot wide. In 10 minutes, Barcelona had done more than in the previous 60; this looked more like them, perhaps even a team overcoming their recent identity crisis.
However, there were home nerves when Messi struck wide from Iniesta’s neat pass nine minutes from time. A warning followed when Marcelo crossed to Ronaldo, whose header from a tight angle was blocked by Jordi Alba. And then, Arda Turan gave away a free-kick on the left, which Modric took. It was time, Ramos time.
