Real moans but Clasico shows Messi is master
Messi was outstanding with a hat-trick including two late penalties for a result which brought Barca back to within a point of co-leaders Real and Atletico Madrid.
Afterwards, an emotional Ronaldo — who had scored a penalty of his own to put his side 3-2 up an hour in — suggested in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu mixed zone that a conspiracy existed to deny Madrid the title.
“A lot of people did not want us to win, as Barcelona would have been out of it,” Ronaldo said.
“Maybe they don’t want Real Madrid to win this league. I’ve been here for five years, so I know how a lot of things are. I hope to win it regardless of this.”
Ronaldo did not stop there, claiming referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco had been afraid during the game.
“I don’t want to look for excuses but if you look at the 90 minutes the referee made a lot of mistakes,” the 29-year-old continued.
“Really bad. In my opinion he was not up to a match of this stature. I looked at him and he was pale, nervous and unable to make the right decisions.”
A few minutes later, Barca playmaker Xavi Hernandez told the same reporters Ronaldo had been mistaken.
“I believe he has spoken too soon,” Xavi said. “I have not seen the replays, but I believe the referee was fair. Barcelona were superior to Madrid, played better and the result is there.”
Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, shown a record 19th club red card for a professional foul on Neymar for Messi’s first penalty, tacked more to his team-mates’ line.
“For the good of football, and for the good for Real Madrid, I hope Undiano does not whistle any more of our games this season,” Ramos said. “Of course the referee decided the game. When you are the best team in the world, there is envy in some places. We at Real Madrid suffer from that and must fight against it. Even though some things you cannot fight.”
The Madrid-supporting sports papers are usually happy enough to follow such ‘conspiracy’ lines coming out of the Bernabeu. But this time, even AS editor Alfredo Relaño accepted it had been Messi and Andres Iniesta, not the referee, who had decided the game.
“What a Clasico!” wrote Relaño. “I cannot remember any better, more emotional, more intense than this one, with so much football inside. Barca won with tremendous merit, thanks to Messi and Iniesta above all.”
Many had expected before the game, including possibly Ronaldo and Ramos, that an in-form Madrid could roll over Barca and accelerate the ending of a team whose success in recent years has been based around Xavi’s passes and Messi’s goals. El Pais’s match report said Gerardo Martino’s side had not bought that narrative.
“This Barça, still an epic team, said no to the changing of the order foretold for this Clasico,” it said.
“With Messi inspired, the azulgrana [Barcelona] did not give in during an enormous game, a museum-piece of an encounter. The best CR7 was missing, but it was a duel at the level of Messi majestic and Iniesta sublime.”
The match-winner himself was asked on Spanish TV pitchside how he felt after taking his personal tally of Clasico goals to a record 21 in just 27 appearances. While his smile was broad, his comments were as low-key and self-effacing as usual.
“The most important thing is that we won,” Messi said. “This is what we wanted. On an individual level, things worked out, but we have to focus on the team effort. It was a very important victory. It was a brilliant game for the fans and for us.”
The idea that Madrid are the best team in the world, and that current Ballon D’Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo is now its best individual player, had just taken a battering.
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has immediately switched his attention to tomorrow night’s La Liga clash against Sevilla after the “disappointing” Clasico defeat by Barcelona.
Benzema scored a double at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night but Barcelona claimed a 4-3 victory in a pulsating match that saw three penalties awarded and the dismissal of Real defender Sergio Ramos.
The result means the title race is wide open, with Real level on points with leaders Atletico Madrid and Barca only one point back.
Benzema said: “We’re disappointed with the result. We scored three goals and had control of the game.
“When Barcelona don’t have it, it is very difficult for them and we played a great game. Barcelona always have possession and we adapted our game against that team and we were doing well.
“I scored two goals but it doesn’t matter, the important thing is the result.
“I do not know if it was a penalty from Sergio on Neymar and after the red it is very difficult playing against 11 men.
“It was a night with a lot of key moments and now we’ll try and beat Sevilla. At this point in the season the matches are all finals and we know that Atletico take on Barcelona on the final day, so we have to think about ourselves in order to win.”
Real defender Marcelo also believes the sending off turned the match. He said: “We fought hard but it’s difficult if you’re a man down.”
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