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As it happenedended

Barcelona beat Real Madrid to take step closer to La Liga title

Re-live the action from the Clasico in Madrid

Jack Watson
Saturday 02 March 2019 14:19 GMT
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Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde discusses Lionel Messi involvement in Real Madrid clash

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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

75: Oh would you look at that, they have their wish! ​Isco has 15 minutes to show Santiago Solari what he can do after replacing Casemiro.

Jack Watson2 March 2019 21:18

78: Vidal kicks off a Barcelona move with a brilliant switching pass to Dembele. Alba makes an overlapping run and can't quite find a teammate with a low cross.

Here comes Coutinho, remember him? He replaces Dembele.

Jack Watson2 March 2019 21:20

85: Real Madrid break forward through Vinicius but Pique is on-hand to limit his danger. The ball is worked to Benzema and Ter Stegen is equal to his long-range effort.

Jack Watson2 March 2019 21:30

Three minutes of added time

Real Madrid are prowling, can they find a late goal?

Jack Watson2 March 2019 21:32

Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona

Jack Watson2 March 2019 21:38
Jack Watson2 March 2019 21:40

A significant win in terms of head-to-head. Actually that's not really important at all is it? What does matter is that Barcelona are now within touching distance of another La Liga title.

Jack Watson2 March 2019 21:47

That's all folks!

It was a bad night for Gareth Bale and Real Madrid's chances of mounting a late challenge for the title.

Although you imagine most of Catalonia won't mind one bit.

Jack Watson2 March 2019 22:10

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