By the end of the Spanish league season, there remains a strong
possibility the title will not end up at Real Madrid or Barcelona. What
will not be taken from the big two, even by a stirring, sustained chase
from Atletico Madrid, will be their combustible reaction to one another.
Last night's clasico featured seven goals, three equalisers, a Lionel
Messi hat-trick, three penalties and a red card. Its outcome has also
left the destiny of the championship a compulsive, tight and three-horse
race.
Barcelona led for far less time last night than they chased
the three points they needed to stay in touch with the top of the table
and gained them via a late penalty awarded whenXabi Alonso and Dani
Carvajal crowded in on Andres Iniesta just inside the Madrid penalty
area. By then, Real were stretched, reduced to ten men by the sending
off of captain Sergio Ramos, who had conceded a disputed spot-kick that
brought Barcelona, thanks to Messi's cool from 12 yards, to 3-3. It had
been breathless, gripping and sometimes untidy up until then, and
possibly bewildering for a first timer in a Bernabeu 'superderby' like
Gareth Bale. He had a low-profile night, though one more distinguished
than his match against Barcelona at Campo Nou, which also ended in
defeat.
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