Barcelona Miss Golden El Clasico Chance

So much for the idea that Real Madrid are going to run away with La Liga. They’re not — not yet, anyway. And even a win at the Camp Nou and going nine points clear would not have meant locking up the title just yet.

But what the 1-1 draw showed (Sergio Ramos’ late goal notwithstanding) is that Real Madrid are very much a team, a compact unit more than capable of going into the Camp Nou and dominating, physically and tactically. That was the case in the first half, where Zinedine Zidane’s midfield, led by the incomparable Luka Modric, disrupted Barca’s flow at every turn.

In some ways, it was a re-run of what we saw in recent outings against Real Sociedad, Malaga and Sevilla. Ivan Rakitic is having a tough time, Andre Gomes looks out of his depth and if you harass the midfield enough, the MSN doesn’t get regular service. You only need to look at Barca’s shots on target in the first half — one, and a lame one at that — to see just how pretty Real Madrid were sitting.

Of course, with this much quality, breaks can come at any time and Barca got one early in the second half, when Neymar’s free kick was met by Luis Suarez’s header. It rather reminded you how form can turn at any minute. Neymar still hasn’t scored in open play in La Liga since September; Suarez had scored just once, for club and country, in November.

To his credit, Barca boss Luis Enrique must have realized they needed a lift and so he turned to the guy whose return to fitness was greeted like some sort of magic pill: Andres Iniesta. It’s perhaps understandable that Luis Enrique opted to keep him on the bench initially: he hadn’t actually played in nearly six weeks. Forcing the saviour tag on him in a Clasico against a side unbeaten in 32 games seemed a bit over the top. And yet from the moment he took his first touch, that’s how you felt.

Suddenly, the old fluidity was back. Suddenly, Madrid’s midfield press became less intense: partly a function of the stage of the game, partly (perhaps) out of respect for his ability to pick apart teams who dare to press. Barcelona strung together at least three clear chances to put the game away and a lot of it had to do with the newfound verve in the middle of the park.

The Clasico was there for Barca to take… except they didn’t. Except for that weird, intangible, unquantifiable, maddening (for others) thing Real Madrid do. They don’t go gently into that good night. The final minutes saw the typical bombardment of Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s goal and on one of those flighted balls, it was Sergio Ramos who met Modric’s cross and headed it home for the equalizer.

There’s no rational reason why Ramos should have scored so many key goals in so many key moments, from the Super Cup to the Champions League final to this. Maybe it’s happenstance and probability. Maybe it’s stardust and voodoo. Who knows? But what you do know is that if you’re a Real Madrid fan, you would have enjoyed it.

It may not have been the greatest of Clasicos but it had moments of skill and magic and a dramatic ending. For the neutral, that will do.

In many ways, there are positives for both Barca and Real Madrid to take home. With Iniesta on the pitch, this is a different Barca side. Rakitic, Suarez and Neymar won’t stay in their funk forever. And the gap stays at six points, which is far from ideal, but manageable.

As for Real Madrid, it’s now 33 games unbeaten. The momentum continues, and it does so without Toni Kroos and Gareth Bale. Zidane is giving this team more dimensions than some thought they had. It’s a grown up side.

Also, you suspect there may yet be a few twists in this Liga tale.