MADRID, Spain – Luis Suarez scored a brace and Barcelona dominated their La Liga rivals Real Madrid at home 4-0 in Saturday's El Clasico match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Suarez carved up Real Madrid's back four as Barcelona completely dismantled their counterparts on the pitch. Neymar and Andres Iniesta also scored for Barca as the reigning Treble champions destroyed their nearest and closest competition by the largest margin since 2010.
Iniesta was brilliant for Barcelona and easily the man of the match as the 31-year-old-captain had a goal and assist and had a hand in all four goals for Barcelona on the day.
Before the game, all the talk centered around superstar Lionel Messi who was expected to make his return to Barcelona after missing the last eight weeks with a knee injury. However, head coach Luis Enrique announced before the game that Messi would not be in the starting XI.
Thankfully, with a three-goal lead just minutes into the second half, Enrique had the luxury to substitute Messi and allow him to shake some of the rust off in a low-pressure situation. Messi immediately made his impact felt on the field as he helped create the fourth goal and second of the game for Suarez.
Claudio Bravo, Barcelona's Chilean goalkeeper, lived up to his last name as the 32-year-old made six saves, including some tremendous runs off his line to stone Madrid's stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema.
All members of Madrid's "Fantastic Four," were off their game, as Barcelona's play was near perfection in the hostile home of the Los Blancos faithful. Nothing went right for Real Madrid as every shot and pass seemed just a hair off. To make matters worse for Madrid, Isco, received a straight red card for a hard foul on Neymar in the 84th minute, and Madrid finished the game with just 10 men.
It was Barcelona's biggest shutout victory at the Bernabeu in the El Clasico since 1974.
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