In the Spanish "Primera" league at 9:30 PM Lithuanian time, an intriguing 31st round match took place. At "Camp Nou" stadium, Madrid's "Real" tried to avenge their painful loss on their own turf against "Barcelona". In the tense and unexpected ending of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo's accurate strike forced the Catalans to suffer a defeat after a very long break. Just before the start of the match, the entire "Camp Nou" stadium was illuminated in club colors and with a special tribute to Johan Cruyff. As the whistle announcing the start of the match was blown, an intense battle began from the very first minute. The first ten minutes saw Luis Enrique's players spending more time with the ball. The visitors from the capital were a bit unsettled and committed frequent fouls. Already in the 10th minute, Sergio Ramos received a yellow card, which later led to the footballer being sent off from the field. In the 19th minute, the first serious opportunity was created near the visitors' goal, when the Catalans took possession of the ball in the opponents' half and created a quick counterattack, during which Ivan Rakitic took a shot at Keylor Navas' goal. However, the excellent form displaying Costa Rican goalie was not breached. In the 25th minute, the visitors from Madrid also created a chance, when Cristiano Ronaldo broke through on the right side to test Claudio Bravo's alertness. After a difficult first 20 minutes of play, "Real" later began to attack their opponents, but they failed to create anything more dangerous. In the first half, football fans did not witness a true "El Clasico" battle, but the real action began in the second half. "Barca" started pressing the "whites" from the beginning of the half and in the 54th minute Lionel Messi was close to scoring, but Keylor Navas reacted to the Argentine's tricky shot. In the 56th minute, the entire "Camp Nou" stadium rose from their seats, when finally after several lifted corner kicks Gerard Pique scored with his head. It was a big blow to the "Real" club, but Zinedine Zidane's team failed to equalize against the Catalans. "Real" intensified their attacks and in the 62nd minute one of them ended with an impressive equalizing goal from Karim Benzema. Marcelo made a perfect run from the left side, passed the ball to the penalty area for Toni Kroos, whose pass reached K. Benzema, who silenced the "Camp Nou" stadium with a sharp shot. After the equalizing goal, "Real" continued to send their forces forward. In the 80th minute, it seemed that the decisive goal of the match had fallen, but the referee spotted an offside against Jordi Alba and Gareth Bale's goal with his head was not allowed, although this episode caused various discussions. After the disallowed goal, Z. Zidane's team faced even more serious trouble - in the 83rd minute, Sergio Ramos finally received a second yellow card and was sent off the field. Z. Zidane decided not to allow the defender to continue playing and moved Casemiro to the center-back position. However, neither the red card nor the controversial referee decision could save "Barca" from defeat. In the 85th minute, "Real" pulled off a successful counterattack to score the winning goal of the match. Cristiano Ronaldo received a precise pass from G. Bale, stopped the ball with his chest and sent it into Claudio Bravo's goal. This was the first defeat for the Barcelona club since October of last year. With the victory, "Real" reduced their gap from "Barca" to 7 points, and Madrid's "Atletico" in second place closed in on the Catalans to 6 points. Result: "Barcelona" 1 - 2 "Real Madrid" 56' [1 - 0] G. Pique 62' [1 - 1] K. Benzema 85' [1 - 2] C. Ronaldo 83' S. Ramos ("Real") sent off the field Starting line-ups: "Barcelona": Bravo, Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez. Substitutes: Ter Stegen, Varmaelen, Sergi Roberto, Munir, Bartra, Rafinha, Arda Turan. "Real Madrid": Navas, Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Bale, Ronaldo, Benzema. Substitutes: Casilla, Nacho, Danilo, James, Isco, Vazquez, Jese. League table:
