Madrid’s humiliation was compounded by the red card to Isco, who lashed out at Neymar less than half an hour after entering the game, but they were in fact fortunate not to concede a fifth, with Munir El Haddadi squandering two glorious opportunities to round off an already stunning Barcelona victory.
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“It’s our eternal rival”.
He told reporters: “Whenever we win and whenever we draw we all have a role”. “We have full confidence in him and him with us”, said the Brazilian.
“We always said it would be a tough game, but we did a very thorough job from the first minute”.
Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez says his players were angry at half-time of their crushing defeat to fierce rivals Barcelona on Saturday.
Neymar, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta took Los Merengues apart on Saturday. At 52:14 you see Iniesta gain possession of the ball, then play a pass to Neymar. We lost the ball against the opposition. “We were up against a very good side and we paid for our mistakes”.
It was another splendid outing from Neymar, who was a constant thorn in the side of the Madrid defence over the 90 minutes.
“Of course it hurts, it hurts a lot to lose like this”, Benitez said.
“We are all to blame and now we need to unite and work hard. Our lead is six points but it is not decisive, there’s a long way to go”. It was one of days when Barcelona were poetry in motion while everything around them is simply static.
Security around the stadium has been ramped up to what officials have said is unprecedented levels following last week’s attacks in Paris.
Iniesta started the match by putting on the captain’s armband for the first time against Madrid, and the 31-year-old midfielder saved his best showing for his 32nd “clasico”.
Isco came on for Rodriguez shortly after and initially gave Real a few much-needed zip in attack, with Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema largely anonymous. Messi immediately made his impact felt on the field as he helped create the fourth goal and second of the game for Suarez. It was Suarez’s seventh and eighth goals in the last five games, and Neymar’s sixth in the last four games. But it couldn’t have been more one-sided.
Rafael Benitez’s side are second with 24 points with Barcelona moving onto 30 points after 12 games. He used the outside of his right foot to quickly fire a firm low shot into the far corner, giving no chance to Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
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Neymar increased the lead from close range in the 39th after a through ball by Iniesta.
