Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona: El Clásico – as it happened

Ivan Rakitic’s classy goal gave Barcelona their second win at the Bernabeu in four days - and ended Real’s title hopes for another year

9.56pm GMT

Sid Lowe’s match report has landed, so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company, goodnight!

Related: Ivan Rakitic goal earns victory for dominant Barcelona over Real Madrid

9.36pm GMT

Peep peep! Barcelona move 12 points clear of Madrid with a deserved victory in a relatively forgettable clasico. Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal in the first half, playing a give-and-go with Sergi Roberto before dinking the ball softly over the advancing Courtois. It was a lovely goal, scored in a manner which said, I am better than you, and we are better than you.

9.35pm GMT

90+3 min Oof! Messi, lurking inside the D, sweeps a superb shot this far wide of the angle of post and bar.

9.33pm GMT

90+2 min Semedo replaces Busquets for Barcelona.

9.32pm GMT

90+1 min Carvajal’s dinked cross finds Varane, who heads straight at ter Stegen from 10 yards. It wouldn’t have counted anyway, as a foul had been given against Ramos.

9.32pm GMT

90 min Three minutes of added time.

9.31pm GMT

89 min Pique is holding the back of his leg and may need to go off.

9.30pm GMT

88 min Asensio’s neat flick finds Carvajal, whose dangerous low cross is hoofed away by Pique. He has been immense.

9.29pm GMT

88 min Benzema zips infield and swishes a well-struck shot from 25 yards that is comfortably saved by ter Stegen as he falls to his right.

9.28pm GMT

87 min “You have to feel sorry for Coutinho,” says Charles Antaki. “His entire Barcelona career seems to have been a series of increasingly unconvincing auditions, destined for the don’t-call-us, we’ll-call-you finale.”

It’s just like when Micky Quinn went to PAOK Thessaloniki.

9.27pm GMT

85 min Real’s effort has been beyond reproach. But Barcelona have been in a different class.

9.25pm GMT

84 min “Rob,” says Mac Millings. “if I may join your highbrow, mes que un conversation about the relative merits of Real Madrid and Barcelona, I like Rakitić, because his name is fun to say. Go on. Say it out loud, with a flourish.. Rrrrakitiććć!!!”

9.25pm GMT

83 min Pique dispossesses Benzema in the area. But he is so loath to hoof the ball anywhere that he instead runs all the way across his own six-yard box under pressure from Benzema, who eventually forces Pique to concede a corner.

9.23pm GMT

82 min Asensio is booked for a desperate lunge at Busquets.

9.19pm GMT

78 min Coutinho replaces Dembele for Barcelona.

9.19pm GMT

77 min Asensio goes over in the area after a challenge from Pique. The referee ignores him. It looked like a dive, and a pathetic one at that.

9.18pm GMT

77 min Real are having a lot of possession now, though it’s all in front of Barcelona.

9.17pm GMT

76 min Real make their last substitution, with Isco replacing Casemiro.

9.14pm GMT

74 min “Matt Dony has every right & some justification for his dislike of Barcelona,” says Niall Mullen. “But he’s so very wrong about the Galacticos. They were so often absolutely tedious to watch, just lounging around like some ennui-filled French artist waiting for inspiration to strike. Like Thomas Gravesen, say.”

9.13pm GMT

72 min Vinicius fizzes a rising drive over the bar from 25 yards.

9.13pm GMT

72 min “I should possibly have prefaced my last email with; ‘I’ve just spent the afternoon at the Penderyn Distillery. Any subsequent points made have been suitably lubricated’,” says Matt Dony. “Ramos has never been ‘likeable’ as such, and his disciplinary record is hilarious, but I almost think that playing alongside the more obviously dirty Pepe for so long kind of masked his own gittishness. These last couple of seasons, though, he’s really shone as a bastion of all that is unpleasant about defending. Sergio Ramos. What a twonk.”

Really? He’s always been King Swine in my eyes.

9.12pm GMT

71 min Barcelona make their first change, with Arturo Vidal replacing Arthur.

9.12pm GMT

70 min: Great chance for Dembele! After a patient move, Messi slides a beautiful through pass down the inside-left channel for Dembele, who cracks a low shot just wide of the far post.

9.11pm GMT

69 min Messi plays a give-and-go with Suarez on the left of the box before larruping a cross that flashes through the six-yard box.

9.09pm GMT

68 min You can never be sure with “football”, but it feels like Barcelona have the match under control and will score a second on the break at some stage.

9.08pm GMT

67 min Barcelona break through Dembele, who is superbly tackled by the last defender Ramos.

9.05pm GMT

64 min “You know how Graeme Swann’s career got such a boost when DRS came in, and he suddenly started winning all those lbw appeals that had previously been turned down?” says Michael Patrick. “I wonder if (hope that) the opposite is about to happen to Sergio Ramos with VAR?”

Ha. I don’t think it will, you know. The thing with Ramos is that he is such a sophisticated snide that it’s hard to prove intent a lot of the time.

9.05pm GMT

63 min Lenglet is booked for an elbow on Ramos.

9.03pm GMT

62 min Marco Asensio replaces the sadly anonymous Gareth Bale.

9.02pm GMT

61 min Ramos is booked for a foul on Messi. Is that even news?

9.02pm GMT

59 min Rakitic loses the ball in his own area. It pinballs to Vinicius, who smashes a shot that is going in until it hts the chest of Lenglet.

8.59pm GMT

58 min Real are hanging on to their 1-0 deficit. Messi finds Jordi Alba, whose low cross deflects off Carvajal and flies just wide of the far post.

8.58pm GMT

57 min Messi plays an inviting pass to Dembele, who slams a low shot on the run from 20 yards that is comfortably held by the diving Courtois.

8.58pm GMT

56 min A long ball forward is taken down expertly by Vinicius, who moves the ball onto his right foot and sweeps a rising shot that is beaten away by ter Stegen. It was a fairly comfortable save as the shot was straight at him.

8.57pm GMT

55 min A Madrid change: Toni Kroos is replaced by Federico Valverde.

8.56pm GMT

54 min Requilon chips an angled cross towards Bale, but it’s brilliantly intercepted by the stretching Jordi Alba.

8.54pm GMT

52 min Carvajal’s desperate defensive header accidentally puts Suarez through on goal. He runs 40 yards into the area but Varane does superbly to make up the ground and ensure Suarez can’t get a shot at goal.

8.51pm GMT

49 min Benzema misses a rare old sitter from six yards, and is thus relieved to realise he was offside. Messi, meanwhile, is struggling with a groin problem.

8.48pm GMT

47 min “I don’t know, I seem to remember a season for Liverpool where Coutinho was pulling the strings behind the attacking trio of Sturridge, Sterling and Suarez,” says Phil Podolsky. “But Valverde seems to see him only as a wide forward, yes.”

He’s better than Dembele in that position as well, isn’t he?

8.46pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! Benzema gets the second half under way for Real Madrid.

8.46pm GMT

“A sly elbow by Ramos to ensure the half ends with all well with the world,” says Charles Antaki, “at least the world of known knowns.”

8.42pm GMT

Matt Dony has a conversation with himself

“I’ve followed Real off-and-on since McManaman moved there, and then the initial wave of Galacticos played some ridiculously entertaining football,” he writes. “If you’re not entertained by watching Roberto Carlos ping a cross into the box at insane speed, are you really a football fan? At the same time, I deeply despise Barca, Pep, and the whole Mes Que Un Club, sanctimonious, ‘this is the only way to play football’ schtick.

8.42pm GMT

Some half-time reading

Related: European roundup: Bayern draw level with Dortmund; PSG go 20 points clear

8.33pm GMT

Messi goes down holding his face after a collision with the inevitable Sergio Ramos. He is absolutely furious! Ramos won the ball off Messi and smacked him in the face with his forearm at the same time. Had it been anyone else I would be 100 per cent sure it was an accident. In this case I’m 98 per cent sure Ramos knew what he was doing. When Messi eventually gets up, he squares up to Ramos, and the players on both sides have a full and frank exchange of views as they walk off at half-time. The second half should be fun, eh.

8.30pm GMT

45 min A half-chance for Madrid. Casemiro curls a long, high pass down the right to Carvajal, who heads the ball back across goal towards Modric. He gets in front of Pique and heads over 12 yards.

8.28pm GMT

44 min “Coutinho is a different type of player to Iniesta,” says Niall Mullen. “He’s best as a wide forward in a front three. I hope that Barca are not trying to replace their legendary players like for like because they may have a little trouble replacing their number 10 when he eventually goes.”

Quinn, Micky.

8.28pm GMT

43 min Vinicius Junior cuts infield from the left and has a pop at goal. Throw-in to Barcelona.

8.26pm GMT

41 min Messi is fouled by Ramos, a sly one that probably deserved a yellow card.

8.25pm GMT

39 min: Vital save from Courtois! The excellent Rakitic burst forward in the inside-right channel and played a square pass to Suarez just outside the D. He allowed it to run across his body, beating Varane in the process, before drilling a low left-footed shot that was excellently stopped by Courtois, diving low to his left. Courtois got straight to his feet to grab Messi’s follow-up as well.

8.23pm GMT

39 min “They used to chant ‘Sumo! Sumo!’ for Micky Quinn,” says Niall Mullen. “When they do it for Messi he responds ‘Si, naranja por favor’.”

8.22pm GMT

37 min Messi curls a free-kick a few yards wide from 20 yards. This is looking ominous for Real, with Barcelona starting to pick them off on the counter-attack.

8.21pm GMT

36 min Suarez appeals for a handball by Carvajal in the Real area. The ball did hit his outstretched hand but he was approximately 0.00004 yards away when Suarez lobbed the ball over his shoulder.

8.20pm GMT

35 min “Does anyone who watches Barcelona regularly have thoughts on why Valverde wouldn’t play Coutinho in the middle of the park in the Iniesta role as God and whoever is in charge of transfers at the club have clearly intended?” wonders Phil Podolsky. “Is the all-round contribution of Rakitic and the other one preferable to the attacking genius of the Brazilian? I typed all this before the goal, mind.”

I’d have Rakitic over Coutinho most days. I haven’t seen enough of Arthur to disparage him on the internet, though.

8.19pm GMT

33 min Rakitic plays a clever angled through ball that is just too far in front of Messi. He would have been through on goal.

8.18pm GMT

32 min A Real corner is half cleared by Barcelona to Reguilon, who hammers the bouncing ball just wide from 25 yards. Ter Stegen must have been unsighted because he didn’t move.

8.17pm GMT

31 min Modric wins the ball on the edge of the Barcelona with a storming tackle on Jordi Alba. He springs to his feet and drives a low cross that pinballs around the area before Barcelona clear.

8.16pm GMT

30 min Reguilon dives into the area after a tackle from Arthur. The referee doesn’t buy it.

8.15pm GMT

29 min Bale’s deep cross is put behind for a corner by Lenglet. Comes to nowt.

8.13pm GMT

Rakitic played a short pass out to Sergi Roberto on the right and ran onto the return pass, away from the last defender Ramos. Once he was into the area he sat Courtois down and dinked the ball gently, almost goadingly, over him and into the net.

8.11pm GMT

Barcelona take the lead with a delicious goal!

8.10pm GMT

24 min “If you watch Messi he actually just walks a lot during the game, as we have been told by stats already,” says Ruth Purdue. “But when he comes alive he 25 yards from goal he just bursts into life. A joy to watch. I guess age comes to us all, and he lets everyone else run for him. Genius.”

Micky Quinn did something similar at Coventry.

8.08pm GMT

22 min Vinicius Junior stabs the ball cockily over the sliding Pique and charges down the left. He gets into the area and cuts the ball back to Benzema, who moves it on to Modric. He dummies to pass and then hits a low shot from 15 yards that is kicked away on the six-yard line by Pique, who seconds earlier had been put on his backside on the left wing by Vinicius.

8.06pm GMT

19 min: Messi misses a good chance! Suarez lobbed a loose ball over the defence to Messi, who took it down with his chest, or maybe his right bicep, and moved into the area. As Courtois came out, Messi lobbed the ball over him with the outside of his left foot, but he got too much on it and it drifted past the far post.

8.03pm GMT

19 min This is a good spell from Barcelona, who are into their stride after a fairly slow start. Messi looks particularly dangerous.

8.02pm GMT

17 min Carvajal tries to kick Messi and ends up on his arse.

8.02pm GMT

16 min Vinicius beats a couple of defenders with ease but overhits his through pass to Bale. That was a chance for Real.

8.01pm GMT

15 min Courtois makes a brilliant save from Suarez’s vicious hit, although it wouldn’t have counted because of an offside in the build-up.

8.00pm GMT

14 min A ludicrous 60-yard pass from Messi releases Dembele, whose first-time cross is put behind for a corner.

7.58pm GMT

13 min Varane’s fierce shot on the turn is blocked by Lenglet and rebounds to Kroos, whose deflected long-range shot is well held by ter Stegen.

7.57pm GMT

11 min A good move from Barcelona. Messi combines with Jordi Alba and finds Dembele. He plays a cute reverse pass to release Jordi Alba, whose driven cross is put behind for a corner. It’s played short and eventually slid into the area towards Rakitic, who goes down hoping for a penalty. The referee isn’t interested.

7.55pm GMT

10 min Reguilon plays a sharp pass into Benzema, who wriggles away from Lenglet on the edge of the area before dragging a left-footed shot well wide of the far post.

7.54pm GMT

9 min Nothing to report in the last few minutes. Real look bright and busy in possession.

7.51pm GMT

5 min A lazy, ill-conceived flick from Casemiro is intercepted by Rakitic, who shovels the ball forward to Messi. He slides a through pass towards Suarez, and Varane comes between Suarez and Courtois to concede a corner.

7.49pm GMT

4 min It’s been a good start from Real, who are pressing with intent when they don’t have the ball.

7.48pm GMT

3 min Bale blooters the free-kick high over the bar.

7.47pm GMT

2 min Modric nicks the ball off Busquets near the halfway line and finds Kroos. He surges to within 20 yards of goal before being taken down by Busquets, who is booked.

7.45pm GMT

1 min Peep peep peep! Barcelona get the match under way, kicking from right to left if you like to picture these things.

7.44pm GMT

The Eleven Sports coverage is, erm, eccentric. They keep going to a break at random moments and flipping between commentary in English and Spanish.

7.42pm GMT

The players are in the tunnel. Luis Suarez is stting on the stairs, looking like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

7.34pm GMT

The bottom team Huesca have beaten Sevilla 2-1, with Ezequiel Avila scoring the winner in the eighth minute of injury time.

6.46pm GMT

Gareth Bale starts for Real Madrid, which is good news for this Barney Ronay article.

Related: Gareth Bale’s bloodless brilliance needs rough edges and a new setting | Barney Ronay

6.45pm GMT

Real Madrid (4-1-2-3) Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Reguilon; Casemiro; Modric, Kroos; Bale, Benzema, Vinicius.
Substitutes: Navas, Marcelo, Valverde, Vazquez, Asensio, Isco, Ceballos.

Barcelona (4-1-2-3) ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets; Arthur, Rakitic; Messi, Suarez, Dembele.
Substitutes: Cillessen, Umtiti, Semedo, Vidal, Alena, Coutinho, Malcom.

6.21pm GMT

Revenge is a dish best served cold. But let’s be honest, it tastes good at any temperature. Real Madrid certainly wouldn’t say no to a piping-hot dish tonight. This clasico is an instant chance to avenge that strange hammering in the Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday, when they played very well yet lost 3-0.

Luis Suarez, who has taken over from Lionel Messi as Madrid’s chief pain in the derriere, scored twice in that game to go with a hat-trick in the season’s first clasico, when Barcelona plugged Real 5-1 in October. Real’s defenders must be thrilled to be facing those two again so soon after Wednesday.

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