It an el clasico to remember last night, with the fastest double being scored in 36 years (Benzema’s two goals in a span of four minutes) and perhaps an inkling of frustration from Real Madrid, after having to settle for a 3-4 scoreline at the Bernabeu.
Let’s not forget that Sergio Ramos also cemented his reputation for being the man who has been sent off “more times than anyone in Madrid’s history” by picking up his 19th red card yesterday. How many times have we seen Ramos getting sent off without batting an eyelid? It’s almost akin to normalizing bad behaviour in football, which could be the case with Luis Suarez in the Premiership.
However, despite all this, the match proved to be a display of excellent football in a long time, with attacking flair and opportunities for either side to take the horn. In the end, after seven goals and three penalties (two of which were questionable – did Ramos really trip Neymar?), Messi became the top scorer in the history of the clásicos, overtaking Alfredo Di Stéfano’s 18 goals of Real Madrid.
Ronaldo, who had been unfairly taken down in the first half, also complained about the referee after the game. Looking at replays, perhaps the Portuguese’s arguments are valid – he should have been given a penalty
“Undiano Mallenco (referee) is not suitable for games like this. We were playing against 12. It’s always the same. It’s like they don’t want us to win and wanted Barcelona back in the title race. I am not looking for excuses but I don’t want to stay quiet on this. The referee was not at the required level for a big game like this.
“I have been here for five years now and I know how things work. If Barcelona had lost, they would have been out of the title race. I have never seen Real Madrid being favoured by the referees.” – Ronaldo
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aKCw8VaUnQ]
