Barcelona beat Real Madrid to take step closer to La Liga title
Re-live the action from the Clasico in Madrid
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Your support makes all the difference.Ivan Rakitic's fine first-half goal proved enough to give Barcelona a hard-earned 1-0 win over rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu as the LaLiga leaders continued their El Clasico dominance.
Barcelona had completed a 3-0 victory in the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday night and never looked like being stretched after Rakitic's clever chip broke the deadlock after 26 minutes.
Tempers almost boiled over at half-time when Lionel Messi looked to have been caught by a stray arm from Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos.
There were, though, few clear-cut chances for Real, who are now winless in their last six league games against their rivals.
Barcelona are now 12 points clear of Los Blancos and 10 ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid, who host Leganes on Sunday. Re-live the action below:
What time does it start?
Real Madrid vs Barcelona kicks off at 7:45pm (GMT) on Saturday 2nd March.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on Premier Sports 1, with coverage starting from 7:15pm (GMT).
The match will also be streamed on Eleven Sports 1, with highlights uploaded to the Eleven Sports website after the game.
Predicted line-ups
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Reguilon, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Vazquez, Vinicius Jr. Benzema
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Busquets, Vidal, Rakitic, Dembele, Messi, Suarez
Form guide…
Real Madrid: DWWLWL
Barcelona: DDWDWW
Head-to-head…
Real Madrid 0 Barcelona 3 (Suarez 2, Varane OG), Copa del Rey, February 2019
Barcelona 1 (Malcom) Real Madrid 1 (Vazquez), Copa del Rey, February 2019
Barcelona 5 (Coutinho, Suarez 3, Vidal) Real Madrid 1 (Marcelo), La Liga, October 2018
Barcelona 2 (Suarez, Messi) Real Madrid 2 (Ronaldo, Bale), La Liga, May 2018
Real Madrid 0 Barcelona 3 (Suarez, Messi, Vidal), La Liga, December 2017
Odds…
Real Madrid to win: 17/10
Barcelona to win: 7/5
Draw: 13/5
Prediction…
Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
21: So, 'how has Vinicius started?' I hear you cry.
Well, he's looked lively. His pace is certainly something that Barcelona are concerned about and they are trying to get their challenges on him as quickly as possible, Pique with the latest robust tackle on the young winger. Ter Stegen's sweeping is also going to be pretty important here.
22: Madrid go close!
Vinicius chips the ball over Pique's sliding tackle and is away on the left-wing. He sprints to the byline and cuts the ball back to Benzema, ignoring Bale in the middle. The ball makes its way to Modric on the edge of the area and his shot at goal is blocked by Pique to prevent it nestling in the bottom corner.
GOAL!
Ivan Rakitic opens the scoring with a superb chip!
What a finish to open the scoring and it seemed to come from nothing. Rakitic is played through on the right side and chips neatly chips the ball over Courtois after charging into the penalty area. That's an effort a certain Messi would be proud of.
29: Real Madrid respond by getting forward and winning a corner that comes to nothing.
Roguilon then goes down under Arthur's challenge after charging into the area and is ordered to get up by the referee. The Barcelona players appeal for a yellow card, saying he dived, but the referee leaves it with no action taken.
36: Oh what a ball from Messi to get Dembele on his bike on the left-wing. Messi then sprints into the box but is just a couple of yards short of latching onto the French winger's low cross.
Real Madrid clear but the concede a foul on the edge of the box, Casemiro on Suarez, in a dangerous position.
37: Messi takes and has Courtois scrambling across his goal but the effort is just too high.
39: Wow, Real Madrid give Suarez so much time and space on the edge of the box to pick his spot. He goes with his left foot and forces Courtois into a good save low to his left. Messi tries to get something from the rebound, but the goalkeeper gets himself to his feet and smothers the ball to prevent any danger. Barcelona are beginning to grow in confidence.
40: Barcelona are given a free kick after one of my all-time favourite fouls. Messi skips away from Ramos after playing a pass to his right and the Real Madrid lifts his heel back to foul him as he tries to sprint pass. That was like a showboat foul and I'm certain we need to see more of them. The free kick from the right, by the way, came to nothing.
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