Barcelona beat Real Madrid to take step closer to La Liga title
Ivan Rakitic's fine first-half goal proved enough to give Barcelona a hard-earned 1-0 win over rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu as the LaLiga leaders continued their El Clasico dominance.
Barcelona had completed a 3-0 victory in the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday night and never looked like being stretched after Rakitic's clever chip broke the deadlock after 26 minutes.
Tempers almost boiled over at half-time when Lionel Messi looked to have been caught by a stray arm from Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos.
There were, though, few clear-cut chances for Real, who are now winless in their last six league games against their rivals.
Barcelona are now 12 points clear of Los Blancos and 10 ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid, who host Leganes on Sunday. Re-live the action below:
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, brought to you from the Santiago Bernabeu.
Barcelona are flying at the top of the table and if Real Madrid are to launch anything close to a Liga title challenge, tonight's match needs to be the catalyst for that.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7:45pm GMT, with the team news set to be confirmed an hour beforehand.
Barcelona remain proudly at the summit of La Liga, seven points ahead of Atletico Madrid and nine above tonight's hosts, Real Madrid.
A win for Barcelona will put them within touching distance of another league title and, just as sweet, effectively end Real Madrid's chance of a domestic trophy this season.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr delivered one of the best performances of his young yet exhilarating career in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Barcelona, thrilling the Santiago Bernabeu and toying with the opposition defence. But there was nothing to show for it.
Can he improve tonight?
Former Real Madrid player and coach Jorge Valdano: “When Raul was at the same stage as Vinicius and starting out, we had him correcting his finishing like a madman. You have to practice on scoring goals and Vinicius will do that and will improve, he just needs to slow down a bit and lift his head,”
Real Madrid manager refuses to warn fans over Bale abuse
Things are not going swimmingly for Gareth Bale at Real Madrid at the moment.
The Welshman received a hostile reception from some supporters after he refused to celebrate his winning penalty at Levante last weekend, also seemingly shrugging off his teammates.
Santiago Solari said there is nothing to address and defend Bale.
"I have nothing to say to the fans," said the Argentine.
"Everyone knows Gareth and knows what he has given to this club. The fans at the Bernabeu are very respectful.
"Gareth has played every game since he came back and has scored several goals. He has been decisive in previous seasons and in the last Champions League."
There have been an average of four or more goals in the last 10 El Clasico clashes in LaLiga, with one match featuring seven goals and another producing six.
The last time these sides drew 0-0 in the league was in 2002 and the last 1-0 was in 2009.
Lionel Messi remains the top goalscorer in the clash, with 26 to his name for Barcelona, although Luis Suarez is showing an appetite for these titanic clashes.
The Uruguayan has scored in all but one of their last five meetings since December 2017, including a hat-trick in this year's 5-1 thrashing in October. Suarez added two more to his record on Wednesday, including a confident Panenka penalty to seal Barcelona's victory.
Santiago Solari may have had good reason not to include Gareth Bale in tonight's match, here's why:
Bale has played in 13 Clasicos during his time in Madrid, but has only been on the winning side three times, with two draws and eight losses, five of which were at the Bernabéu.
And in terms of leaving his mark on the often crucial matches he falls flat. He has only scored two goals in those 13 games, although one was that Copa Del Rey goal where he whizzed beyond Marc Bartra in the final and scored. You know the one.
The Real Madrid anthem is blaring around the Santiago Bernabeu, which reminds me of this time that the Real Madrid players were super comfortable with singing it together a couple of years ago.
This is well worth a watch - they've just walked out onto the pitch so you have just enough time.
2: Busquets has wasted no time in getting a yellow card, 82 seconds to be exact. Modric pinches the ball from him in the middle of the pitch and Kroos is brought down by Busquets as he trots forward.
Bale lines up the free-kick on the edge of the area and lifts the ball into the crowd.
5: Real Madrid get caught in possession and Messi has time and space to find Suarez. The Argentine produces an uncharacteristic error and adds too much to his through pass and Varane is on-hand to clear, albeit amid a little confusion with Courtois.
9: Benzema has started by playing in every position across the front three and finally gets his first sniff at goal. He collects a low pass fired into him from deep and drags an effort wide after cutting in from the left side. Dynamic play from the Real Madrid forwards.
Congratulations if you had 11 minutes for the first tumble on your El Clasico bingo card. You have a lot to thank Rakitic for after he threw himself to the floor under Reguilon's imaginary touch.
Elsewhere, you know with the actual football, Real Madrid unleash a couple of shots on goal, the best coming from Kroos. His left-footed effort from the edge of the box swerves upwards and into ter Stegen's arms.
14: It'll be interesting to see who is controlling the television pictures that we are seeing. I wonder where their season ticket in the Bernabeu is? We've just seen a montage of what seems to be penalty appeals for the home side. The first a nudge by Rakitic and then a handball claim after Lenglet throws himself in front of a shot. Get a grip.
17: So close from Messi! He wriggles his way beyond the defence after collecting Suarez's high one-two pass. He somehow gets the ball under control at pace and looks to chip Courtois, only to shoot just wide of the post. The best chance of the game, that.
