Barcelona recovered from conceding the quickest goal in El Clasico history to defeat Real Madrid 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, delivering a decisive blow in the race for the La Liga title.

The victory snaps Madrid’s 15 game winning streak and sees Barcelona leapfrog their bitter rivals to reclaim first place in the provisional Primera Division standings.

Was there ever a doubt?  You better believe it.  Since the inaugural opening of the Santiago Bernabeu in December of 1947, Barcelona have recorded a mere 16 victories.  It remains the most historically imposing fixture for the blaugrana; and with Real riding a hot winning streak, entering the match as favorites, holding a three point advantage and a game in hand, a victory was far from assured.

But great teams rise to the occasion, and in the face of adversity show their true character.  The fact that Barcelona have not lost a game in Madrid for four straight years bears testament to how special this team truly is.

We are witnessing a dynasty in the making.  Voracious in appetite, always hungry for more, and as defending champions, unwilling to relinquish the crown.

All that character would be tested in the opening seconds, as Barcelona conceded the quickest goal ever between the two sides.

A clamorous mistake on a miskicked clearance from Victor Valdes gifted the ball to an unmarked Angel Di Maria 25 yards out.  Di Maria’s feed to Benzema was intercepted well by Busquets, with the clearance falling to Ozil on the edge of the area.  The German’s volley deflected again off Busquets and fell cleanly to Benzema, who slotted home from six yards out to put los blancos ahead just 22 seconds into the match.

It was a dream start for Madrid and fumed their conviction that this would be the year to supplant Barcelona.

Messi nearly equalized five minutes later, robbing Sergio Ramos in the backfield before avoiding Pepe’s challenge and firing on goal, but Casillas did well to spurn the Argentine with a fingertip save, pushing the ball out of play beyond the far post.

Ronaldo should have made it two in the 24^th minute when, after a clever cutback pass by Benzema, the Portuguese star shanked a wide-open shot on goal from just inside the area.  He had Di Maria unmarked on the right, waiting, ready to pounce on the sitter, but instead opted for goal, missing badly in the process.

He would rue the miss.

An overlooked element of Guardiola’s managerial career has always been his ability to change tactics during a match.  After the Ronaldo miss, he took a gamble and had his men switch to a 3-4-3 system, with Alves and Iniesta out wide as wingers, Sanchez up top and Messi dropped deep in the hole behind him.

The flood of men in the midfield saw Barcelona regain control of the match and begin to dominate possession.  With Alves pushed up, Marcelo was prevented from getting forward on his overlapping runs, limiting his impact in the match.

Puyol moved out wide to right back and turned in a man of the match performance, stopping Ronaldo and Benzema dead in their tracks.

Busquets assumed a clever floating role between midfield and defense, dropping into the center to give a four man backline when he sensed danger, then drifting into the midfield to link up play and help control possession when necessary.  His presence with Pique allowed Barcelona to always have two backs capable of playing the ball out of defense, thus tiring out and frustrating Madrid’s relentless high press.

Indeed, a critical aspect of the high press is that when you don’t maintain 50% possession and you allow the other team to control the game in midfield, you run yourself into the ground.

With Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, Fabregas and Messi getting touches in the center of the pitch, Madrid lost their shape, their stamina, and the match.

Barcelona would capitalize on their tactical advantage, leveling the game in the 30^th minute.  A darting run through three defenders by Leo Messi saw the Argentine penetrate deep into the Madrid half before releasing a surgical pass to Alexis Sanchez.  The Chilean took one touch to control, and with Pepe and Coentrao nipping at his heels, sent a low strike skipping off the surface and into the bottom left corner of the net for his fourth goal since returning from injury in November.

Having been booked early in the match for dissent, Messi then risked being sent off minutes after the goal for a foul on Xabi Alonso in the center of the pitch.  Madrid screamed for the second yellow, but referee David Fernandez awarded the foul without producing a card.

What would this matchup be without controversy?

While the tackle may have been a little late, it was not a breakaway situation and the spikes were not showing.  Despite the ardor of the Madrid faithful, Fernandez decided against creating a polemico, refusing to send off the world’s greatest player, in the first half of the biggest game of the season, in front of millions of viewers, for what would have been, his first foul of the game.

It wouldn’t happen, and I think we can all be thankful for a penalty-less, red card-less clasico, for once.

The first half would end level at one, but with all the momentum swinging Barcelona’s way.

Pep’s decision to switch to the 3-4-3 began to show rewards in the second half, as Barcelona’s dominance in possession wore down the Madrid press, causing them to lose shape in the transition game.

Valdes did well to cover up a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick sent skipping off the grass before Xavi Hernandez, in his record 600^th appearance for Barcelona, saw his volley from 30 yards out take a deflection off the back heel of Marcelo, spin past the wrong footed Casillas, clip off the far post and roll into the net.

As Ray Hudson declared, “it was a gangster goal for Barcelona and it was Xavi holding the revolver.”

As Madrid opened up and exposed their tired legs, Barcelona surged forward, creating gilded-edge chances at will.

A quick free-kick from Fabregas allowed Messi to find himself in space on the left, drawing in three defenders before slipping a ball through to Alexis, but a fantastic kick save from Casillas kept the match in reach.

Messi flashed a curling free-kick inches wide of the far in the 64^th minute before Ronaldo fluffed another sure-fire chance to level the game at two, heading a perfectly weighted cross from Xabi Alonso wide of the far post, unmarked from seven yards out.

It was a horrendous miss to culminate another dreadful performance against the blaugrana.

Barca would complete the comeback just 30 seconds later in a paradigm of everything Barca are brilliant at.  Fabregas tackled the ball away from Kaka to start the break.  A fantastic piece of skill from Andres Iniesta saw the midfielder shake off Coentrao and find Messi at midfield.  The Argentine, always the genesis of every Barcelona goal, ghosted past Khedira before releasing Dani Alves on the right.  The Brazilian picked out Cesc Fabgregas at the back post for a glancing header past Casillas to put Barcelona up 3-1.

It was a sumptuous cross and an even better finish for the ex-Gunner, bringing his La Liga tally to a remarkable eight goals this campaign, making him Barca’s second highest scorer in league play this season.

Madrid began to show their frustration after the goal, lowering themselves to the goonish tackles that plagued last season’s clasicos.

Sergio Ramos was shown yellow for a late, two-footed, studs up, lunging challenge into Messi’s ankle that could have been a red in a lower profile affair.

Coentrao miraculously escaped the books minutes later for an identical studs up, lunging challenge on Iniesta after the Manchego had been dragged to the ground by Khedira, gotten up and flicked the ball past the Portuguese defender.

All in all, however, this was one of the cleaner and better officiated clasicos in recent memory.  Referee David Fernandez and his crew ought to be commended for ensuring we saw a quality match with all the players from both sides on the field for the full 90 minutes.

Xavi would send a diving header wide of the post in the final quarter hour before Casillas denied Iniesta from close range.  After stealing the ball deep in the Madrid half and playing a quick give-and-go with Messi, the midfielder found himself in on goal, firing into the body of Casillas from a tight angle.

Benzema and Kaka looked to set up a thrilling finale, but Valdes came up big, denying Kaka with a reaction save at the near post before Benzema whipped a curling strike wide from ten yards out.

In the end it was not meant to be for los merengues, as Barcelona held on to preserve another historic victory over Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho.

So, what did we learn?

There is no substitute for a great defense.  Puyol is the stalwart center back that makes Barcelona work.  He brings the very best out of Gerard Pique (excellent on the night) and offers a level of commitment and dependability that Barcelona need in the biggest games.  Quite simply, with all the attacking minded players on the pitch, including Pique and Alves, Carles Puyol is the only Barcelona player that lives to defend.

It is what he does.  And when he turns in a performance like that, the least scored upon defense in Europe becomes even more impenetrable.

What should the fans take away from this?

Pride.  Barcelona continue to prove, time and again, that when the cards are stacked against them, they can beat Madrid.  Their rivals may have closed the gap, but Madrid remain a team that do not match up well against Barcelona and are psychologically ill-prepared to face them.

Against all other teams, Madrid’s playmakers (Di Maria, Ozil, Kaka and Ronaldo) are allowed to get their touches and settle into a rhythm.  Barcelona simply possess the ball so well that they never allow this to happen.

As a result, Ozil becomes the invisible man, Di Maria sees his impact mitigated and Ronaldo turns into a selfish player.

The special players on Barcelona are simply better than those of Madrid.  Xavi, Iniesta and Messi control the game in a way that eludes Madrid’s brightest stars.  It is why Messi continues to come up big in the clutch, while Ronaldo fizzles out.

In seven La Liga and Champions League clasicos between Messi and Ronaldo, the Argentine has recorded five wins, four goals and four assists.  Cristiano has zero wins, one goal (penalty kick), and zero assists.

Because of all the talent in Barcelona and the dominance of the midfield, Messi is allowed to be the difference maker in big matches.

So, what will the “special one” do now?

Go back to the drawing board.  Barca’s summer signings Alexis and Cesc confounded the game plan of “The Special One” and determined the outcome of the match with their two goals.

While the high press may have won Madrid an early goal, it clearly did not offer enough defensive protection for the backline.

Giving up 62% possession, seven shots on goal and five corners is unacceptable for a Mourinho coached side.

As fun as the last three meetings have been, Madrid have learned that they cannot beat Barcelona playing toe-to-toe, attacking football.  It concedes too much space and too many chances.

Unfortunately, look for Madrid to close up shop and play physical, defensive football from here on out against the blaugrana.

Mourinho simply has no other option when facing “The Special Ones.”

 

Article written by Barcaloco contributor Anson Woodring.  Follow Anson on Twitter at @ansonwoodring.

Full match highlights:

Real Madrid VS Barcelona 1-3 Highlights HD 10.12… by iNfRaS0NiC