There were two unbeaten teams in La Liga before kick-off today. Now we have just one.
Real Madrid solidifies their position at the top of the table and will hope to keep that advantage.
Barcelona’s week from hell continued after their recent 3-3 draw with Inter Milan left them on the verge of an early Champions League exit.
Plenty of questions will be raised about Xavi’s tactical nous and ability, but he can rest his hat on what was, until today, a rather successful run for the side, at least domestically.
Full time: Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona
And the referee blows the final whistle.
Real has taken a massive three points here as their undefeated streak continues. They now move to the top spot with a three-point advantage over Barcelona, who have suffered their first league defeat this season.
The result does seem quite apt when you consider that for large portions of the match, Barcelona just didn’t look quite an at ease out there despite having 57 percent possession.
Barcelona also had more than double the shot attempts at 18 to 8.
The real story here was just how well Real controlled the match in decisive phases and how effective their counterattack was at times.
