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First Division - Day 29

Real Madrid 3 - Barcelona 4

Madrid: Diego López; Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo; Modric (Morata 89’), Xabi Alonso, Di María (Isco 85’); Bale, Benzema (Varane 66’), Ronaldo. 4-3-3.
Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Dani Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Fàbregas (Alexis 77‘); Iniesta, Messi, Neymar (Pedro 68’). 4-3-3.

Goals:
0-1. 07. Iniesta. Picked up Messi pass and fired shot past López in to roof of net.
1-1. 20 Benzema. Got on the end of Di María cross to force header past Valdés.
2-1. 24. Benzema. Controlled Di María cross and struck volley wide of keeper.
2-2. 42. Messi. Collected Neymar pass inside area and steered shot inside post.
3-2. 55. Ronaldo (penalty). After Ronaldo tripped by Dani Alves on edge of area.
3-3. 65. Messi (penalty). After Ramos sent off for bringing down Neymar in area.
3-4. 84. Messi (penalty). After Iniesta sandwiched between Carvajal and Alonso.

Yellow cards: Di María 34', Pepe 43’, Fàbregas 43’, Busquets 65’, Xabi Alonso 85’, Ronaldo 86’, Modric 87’ / red cards: Sergio Ramos 63’.

“Hay Liga”! Barcelona beat arch rivals Real Madrid 3-4 in an amazing night in the Bernabeu stadium to reduce the gap between the top three to just one point! Tata Martino’s side needed a win to stay in contention for the title, and Iniesta put them ahead after Messi set him up early on. Benzema scored twice in four minutes though to turn the scoreline around, both goals coming from crosses by an active Di María, and the French striker could have completed a hat-trick had Piqué not cleared his shot from off the line minutes later. However with the first half coming to a close Messi levelled things again after picking up a short pass by Neymar, setting off a small altercation between Pepe and Fàbregas which ended with both being shown yellow cards.

Soon after the restart Valdés had to be at his best to keep out Benzema following a good run by Bale, but a couple of minutes later referee Undiano Mallenco awarded a penalty to the locals when Dani Alves tripped Ronaldo on the edge of the area, Ronaldo himself converting the spot kick. Some ten minutes later however Undiano gave a penalty at the other end, sending off Sergio Ramos for bringing down Neymar, and Messi stepped up to make it all square for a third time.

Ancelotti pulled his troops back to defend as Pedro and Alexis joined the visiting forwards, Alves firing a shot against the post, and with six minutes to go Undiano pointed to the spot again after Iniesta was sandwiched between Dani Carvajal and Xabi Alonso. Once again it fell to Messi to finish things off, and he coolly fired a shot past Diego López to complete his second hat-trick in eight days, giving his team a vital win which takes them once again to within a point of their hosts, and with the head-to-head record in their favour to boot.