The big news before Wednesday night's Clasico was that Lionel Messi was starting the game on the bench for Barcelona, yet the Argentine was relatively discreet in his 30 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Ernesto Valverde wanted to be careful with Messi, following his thigh knock against Valencia at the weekend, but with the score at 1-1 he entered the fray in the 63rd minute with the hope of changing the game.
Instead, he did not play with the same rhythm that we are so accustomed to seeing, while also ending his streak of scoring in nine consecutive games for the Blaugrana.
The last time Messi did not score before today was against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League in December, which means that he was one game off his own personal record of scoring in 10 successive games, something he achieved between December 2012 and January 2013.
His entrance against Real Madrid brought an improvement in Barcelona's retention of the ball, yet Messi was not having the same impact when it came to the final third.
There were two occasions where he made the wrong decision as Barcelona were attacking, along with a well-positioned free-kick that went into the wall and some passes that did not come off.
Madrid played against the human version of Messi, but he should be back to his usual self when the two sides meet against at the Santiago Bernabeu in three weeks' time.