Five things we learned from May’s El Clásico fixture

Barcelona and Real Madrid battled in an entertaining affair this past weekend. A look at the key takeaways from the game.

The final El Clásico match-up of the 2017-18 campaign came with an interesting backdrop ahead of the actual meeting, as the circumstances surrounding both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid seemed to take some of the shine off the encounter.

The Blaugrana have the league title all wrapped up, while Los Merengues are preparing for the UEFA Champions League final later this month against Liverpool.

It would be easy to write the game off as somewhat “meaningless”, but these two eternal rivals ensured that the drama and skill were at absurdly high levels throughout 90 minutes. The game started with a furious pace, and the scoring came early.

A fantastic cross from Sergi Roberto (more on him later) set up an excellent Luis Suarez finish, and Barcelona were out in front. Less than five minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo levelled the match after a superb passing sequence with Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema.

Strikes from Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale in the second half would see the match end in a 2-2 draw, as both sides battled for the winner until the final whistle. The visitors will feel significant frustration thanks to a controversial decision not to award what looked to be a clear penalty in the closing minutes.

As the season comes to an end in a few weeks for both clubs, I take a look at five things that we learned from Barcelona and Real Madrid in Sunday’s thrilling El Clásico.