Barcelona took a big step towards defending their LaLiga title with a 1-0 win at Real Madrid thanks to Ivan Rakitic's first-half goal.
2018/2019 La Liga
0-1
Match Events
26'GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona (Rakitic)
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! RAKITIC SCORES! 1-0 BARCA! Out of nothing the visitors take the lead. A simple one-two between Rakitic and Sergi Roberto opens up the Madrid defence. The midfielder surges into the right inside channel before clipping a strike over the top of Courtois and the ball rolls into the back of the net. A clinical move from Barca.
Goal! Real Madrid 0, Barcelona 1. Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sergi Roberto with a through ball.
45' Clashes between Messi & Ramos before HT
Messi goes down clutching his face before the half-time whistle following a collision with Ramos. The referee has to act to bring tempers under control.
Messi goes down clutching his face before the half-time whistle following a collision with Ramos. The referee has to act to bring tempers under control.
61' Yellow Card! Ramos booked
Ramos blocks off Messi's run through the Los Blancos defence and goes into the book.
91' Amazing save from Ter Stegen to deny Varane
Carvajal raids down the right flank and whips a cross into the box. Varane rises in the middle to head at goal, but he nods his effort straight at Ter Stegen. It wouldn't counted anyway as Ramos had fouled Pique in the middle.
Match Reports
Ivan Rakitic scored a delightful winning goal as Barcelona triumphed 1-0 in a tight Clasico clash with Real Madrid to move 10 points clear at the top of the LaLiga table.
Barca won 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to reach the Copa del Rey final in midweek and, three days later, they prevailed once more at the home of their bitter rivals in a game that saw captains Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi involved in a flashpoint.
Rakitic struck the only goal with a cute chip that beat Thibaut Courtois with Barca comfortably holding Los Blancos at bay to inflict more Clasico misery and consecutive home league losses on Madrid.
Player Ratings
Line-ups
Real Madrid XI: Sergio Ramos, L. Modrić, Benzema, Bale, T. Kroos, T. Courtois, Casemiro, Daniel Carvajal, R. Varane, Reguilón, Vinícius Júnior
Subs: Marcelo, K. Navas, Isco, Lucas Vázquez, Marco Asensio, Ceballos, Valverde
Barcelona XI: L. Messi, L. Suárez, Piqué, I. Rakitić, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, M. ter Stegen, S.Roberto, Lenglet, Arthur, O. Dembélé
Subs: Vidal, Philippe Coutinho, J. Cillessen, S. Umtiti, Semedo, Carles Aleñá, Malcom