Barcelona exploited a lackluster Real Madrid to win the 'Clasico' 3-0 on Saturday as goals from Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Aleix Vidal propelled the Catalans to a 3-0 win and lifted them 14 points clear of their rivals in the standings.
Suarez capitalized on a wide open space in Madrid’s midfield to knock in a simple pass from Sergi Roberto following a breakaway move in the 54th minute. That opened the scoring after a tense but tight first half in the early afternoon sun at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Messi hammered in the second goal from the penalty spot 20 minutes later after Dani Carvajal was sent off for blocking a goal-bound header from Paulinho with his arm after Real were again easily picked apart on the counter attack.
Catalan defender turned winger Vidal hit the third in injury time to pile more misery on Madrid, who looked unrecognizable from the side that crushed Barca 5-1 on aggregate in the Spanish Super Cup in August.
Real failed to capitalize on their chances in the first half as Karim Benzema’s header came off the post and Cristiano Ronaldo was denied by the flailing leg of Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. However, the European and Liga champions collapsed after the interval and Barca took full advantage.
“We are feeling very angry because it’s a defeat that hurts a lot but we are not going to give up,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane told a news conference.
“It’s a complicated moment because of the defeat and the three goals, I could say we don’t deserve this but football is like this. This is a very painful defeat, we are all sad, especially me. But we will come back much stronger.”
Barca are nine points clear of nearest challengers Atletico Madrid at the top of the standings although Valencia could climb to second and close the gap to eight points later on Saturday if they beat Villarreal. Real are 14 points adrift but have a game in hand.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said it was premature to assume that his side had wrapped up the title or to count Real out of the running.
“Of course not, the first round of fixtures hasn’t even finished. We’ve got the advantage, but we don’t focus on that,” he said.
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