Gareth Bale’s El Clasico ended with a loud chorus of boos as he came off after an hour in Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat against Barcelona.
Real Madrid had to win to keep their slim chances of winning La Liga alive, but Ivan Rakitic’s chipped finish was the only goal on a tense night.
After being played through on the right, the Croatian charged towards goal and showed Lionel Messi-like precision to delicately lift the ball over Thibaut Courtois and into the net.
The home side created a number of half-chances through exciting winger Vinicius Junior, who looked very impressive against tough opposition but was still unable to find a goal to complete his game.
The effort shown by Vinicius was not matched by the much more experienced winger on the opposite flank. Bale never really got going, firing a free kick in a dangerous area over the bar in the first half was about his only real involvement.
Bale has not been a regular feature of Santiago Solari’s first team this season and is reportedly falling short of the hierarchy’s expectations. He was replaced by Marco Asensio after an unproductive hour to boos from the home fans who made it very clear what they made of his performance.
Solari then responded to calls from the home crowd to bring on Isco late in the game as they chased an equaliser. Real Madrid were then able to create a number of chances and often worked the ball into some good areas, but nothing they did was enough to get past the imperious Gerard Pique.
The defeat leaves Real Madrid 12 points shy of their rivals, who will surely be thinking of another league title.
