La Liga: Real Madrid 0-3 FC Barcelona
Behind Barcelona in the table, Real Madrid were hoping for a win to close the gap with their rivals. The result was total opposite and FC Barcelona cruised to the 3-0 victory in Madrid while strengthening the leading spot. It seems now very unlikely Real Madrid catch Barcelona for the La Liga title with a 14 point deficit as the year ends.
In the process Leo Messi scored his 25th goal at Bernabeu whereas Barça’s defense muted Cristiano Ronaldo.
Coach Real Madrid, Zidane comments on El Clasico loss:
“We started very well and had the opportunities to score but we didn’t manage to do so. We made a mistake for their first goal and the game was uphill from then on. Just as I wanted to make the substitutions, the second goal went in and everything changed with the sending-off. Mateo also picked up a knock defending the second goal and the first was our fault because we didn’t defend it very well. It’s a painful defeat but it’s the way it is, and we have to take it on the chin today.
We’re disappointed because it’s a tough one to take but we’re not going to let our heads drop. We’ve got a week to rest up well and we’ll come back stronger than before. Real Madrid never give in. It’s a tough time now after the defeat and conceding three goals. We didn’t deserve to lose in this fashion, but that’s football and it happens sometimes.
Now we have to rest up and keep going forward. I’m not going to ever change. We have to keep making progress because we have a long way to go. Everyone seems to think that LaLiga is done and dusted but I don’t think that it is. We will keep plugging away, this has not been a bad year. We aren’t in too much of a bad place. Football can change very quickly. This summer Barcelona were on the rocks, now it is us. We have to accept it. That’s football. When you win, it is fantastic but when you lose it can be a nightmare. We can’t be happy with the manner in which we’ve lost the game but I have every faith in my players and what they have done up until now has been nothing short of phenomenal”
Coach FC Barcelona Valverde on the huge win in Madrid:
“We figured out how to beat Real Madrid’s pressure in our end. The game was wide open, and neither team clearly dominated play. And we persevered until later on when we took control of the match…to win El Clásico.
The first half of the season isn’t even over yet. We’re ahead of our rivals, but we’re not focused on that. We want to win our games and avoid losing any”.
Luis Suarez added:
“We are really pleased to have taken on an opponent like Madrid and to have collected three points at such a difficult ground. “We knew they’d put us under a lot of pressure and we wanted to control the game as much as possible”
Paulinho on his first El Clasico:
“I’m happy to have played in my first Clásico and to have helped the team with such a great win. I want to thank all my team-mates for the way they have welcomed me over the last few months”
