Leading standings: Barcelona 30; R. Madrid 24; Atl.
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Suarez said: “We are six points up against a direct rival but there’s a lot left”. The decision to not have Casemiro, someone who has done so well in recent weeks, indicated that Benitez had chosen trying to play attacking football over having an organized unit trying to just knick a win. The Spaniard, like many in the stadium, had lost his composure – hacking away at Neymar from behind to receive a straight red. “What I’m most concerned about now is getting the team to recover mentally in time for the next match”.
Lionel Messi will start on the bench for Barcelona in Saturday’s La Liga “Clasico” at Real Madrid (1715 GMT) following his recovery from a knee injury, according to the official lineups.
A Luis Suarez brace and goals from Neymar and Andres Iniesta set Luis Enrique’s side up for a convincing triumph in the first Clasico of the season, and extended the gap between the two domestic heavyweights to a considerable six points.
His future is in the hands of club president Florentino Perez, who has seen numerous managers come and go and whose own role is under the spotlight.
However, he believes he will be given the chance to turn things around, starting with Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk. As the game continued, it was essentially a 4v2 in midfield as neither Cristiano Ronaldo or James tracked back to aid the duo, and Barca freely passed their way into the final third. Madrid’s ego-fuelled dressing room is notoriously hard to manage, but Benitez’s predecessor Carlo Ancelotti had the players overwhelmingly on his side.
“We have full confidence in him and him with us”, said the Brazilian. This has been a very complete performance.
“In the end we are all responsible and we must look for a solution as a group and to give joy to the fans”.
Real came out fighting after the break and Marcelo and Rodriguez each went close before Neymar sent a backheel into Iniesta’s path in the 53rd minute and he hammered the ball past Keylor Navas into the top corner.
And he admitted Barca had no intention of slowing down as they tried to emulate the 5-0 thrashing of Jose Mourinho’s Madrid five years ago.
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Barcelona, meanwhile, sit pretty at the top of the table after this most spectacular of performances, which must rank as their best display against their bitter rivals since Pep Guardiola’s side beat a Madrid side coached by Jose Mourinho 5-0 in 2010. “There’s a long way to go yet”, he insisted.
