Barcelona Skid Continues With Another Loss To Real Madrid

03/02/2013 Madrid, Spain

In a noticeably subdued version of El Clásico, Barcelona’s poor form continued as they fell to Real Madrid 2-1 loss at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday.

After Karim Benzema and Lionel Messi exchanged early first half goals, Real Madrid center back Sergio Ramos scored the winner from a towering header in the 81st minute.

Barcelona dominated possession, as usual, and will feel outdone after Adriano’s clear penalty claim was ignored in the final minutes.

However, Jose Mourinho will feel content that his side did enough to earn a the victory after he made 7 changes to the starting lineup.

Messi found it hard to find a sufficient amount of touches to dominate the match, but his opening goal matched Alfredo di Stefano’s record of 18 total goals in El Clásico and was his 16th straight in La Liga.

While the Catalans still hold a 13 point lead over their eternal Spanish rivals, their aura of invincibility appears to have vanished.

Goals: Benzema 6′, Messi 18′, Ramos 81′

Real Madrid: Diego López, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Fábio Coentrão (Álvaro Arbeloa, 69), Kaká (Sami Khedira, 58), Luka Modric, Michael Essien, José Callejón, Morata, Karim Benzema (Cristiano Ronaldo, 58)

Barcelona: Víctor Valdés, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta, Thiago Alcántara (Cristian Tello, 85), Sergio Busquets, David Villa (Alexis Sánchez, 67), Lionel Messi, Pedro (Adriano, 77)

The Soccer Daily