Clasico: Real Madrid beat Barcelona with help of Ramos penalty
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos once again proved to be the man for the big occasion as he converted a fiercely debated penalty to help his side to a 3-1 win over rivals Barcelona at an empty Camp Nou in La Liga on Saturday.
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos once again proved to be the man for the big occasion as he converted a fiercely debated penalty to help his side to a 3-1 win over rivals Barcelona at an empty Camp Nou in La Liga on Saturday.
Ramos, making a record 45th appearance in the `Clasico` fixture, was awarded the spot-kick following a VAR review, after falling in the area when his shirt was tugged by Barca`s Clement Lenglet as the pair contested a corner.
The defender showed his customary calm to score from the spot in the 63rd minute and restore the champions` lead, after Federico Valverde had opened the scoring in the fifth minute only for Barca`s 17-year-old forward Ansu Fati to equalise less than three minutes later.
Barcelona ran out of steam in the second half and Real Madrid missed two big chances to seal the points after Ramos` penalty before substitute Luka Modric finally put the result beyond doubt with a goal in added time.
The victory took La Liga champions Madrid back to the top of the standings on 13 points from six games, while Barca, who have only taken one point from their last three league outings, are all the way down in 10th on seven points from five games.
The win is a huge boost for Zinedine Zidane`s side, who went into the match reeling from back-to-back home defeats to promoted Cadiz and a depleted Shakhtar Donetsk.
"This win gives us three points but it also gives us confidence after a difficult week for us," said keeper Thibaut Courtois.
"People were doubting us but we didn`t doubt ourselves, we were always with the manager. When you wear this badge you have to give everything in the 90 minutes, and we really put in a big effort today and deserved to get the win."
Barca coach Ronald Koeman dropped 120 million euro forward Antoine Griezmann for the second game in a row but was slow to turn to his bench, not making a change until bringing on Griezmann and Francisco Trincao with nine minutes to go.
Courtois and Neto each made impressive saves in the first half, while Barca midfielder Coutinho should have given the Catalans the lead shortly before the penalty but somehow missed the target with a free header teed up by Ansu.
"They had chances and we had chances, but they were just a little sharper," said Barca defender Sergino Dest.
The story has been taken from a news agency
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
SBI 444-day FD vs Union Bank of India 333-day FD: Know maturity amount on Rs 4 lakh and Rs 8 lakh investments for general and senior citizens
Power of Compounding: Salary Rs 25,000 per month; is it possible to create over Rs 2.60 crore corpus; understand it through calculations
New Year Pick by Anil Singhvi: This smallcap stock can offer up to 75% return in long term - Check targets
PSU Oil Stocks: Here's what brokerage suggests on these 2 largecap, 1 midcap scrips - Buy, Sell or Hold?
Power of Compounding: How many years it will take to reach Rs 2 crore corpus if your monthly SIP is Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000, or Rs 5,000
Retirement Calculator: 40 years of age, Rs 50,000 monthly expenses; what should be retirement corpus and monthly investment
10:25 PM IST