It was Neymar Santos Junior who took the Barcelona- Real Madrid rivalry into a new era, while Gareth Bale will have to await his chance to make an impact on the greatest game in club football. When Bale departed on the hour, he did so having been unable to mark this clásico; when Neymar did so 23 minutes later, he left to a thunderous ovation. The Brazilian had scored one and just provided the other to take Barcelona into what just proved an unassailable lead to win the first meeting between the clubs of the season.
Barcelona were getting nervous when Neymar sent the substitute striker Alexis through for a superb finish to finally give the Catalans the cushion they needed. There was still time for Khedira's late chance, saved by Víctor Valdés and Dani Alves's nutmeg on Ronaldo. Then, in the last minute, Ronaldo released Jesé to score, his shot squirming past Valdés and into the net. But it was Neymar, scorer of the first-half opener, who marked what felt like a new chapter in the story of this rivalry.
There was a sense that the nature of this match was yet to be defined. They had waited unusually long, too: after 17 clásicos in only three years came an eight-month hiatus. José Mourinho had and for the first time in a decade both clubs went into the season with new managers.
Ancelotti's approach was still taking shape; he talked of a 4-4-2 but it rarely looked that way. Here, it was changed entirely. The team sheet included three central defenders: Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Raphaël Varane. Ramos was pressed into an unfamiliar midfield role with Sami Khedira and Luka Modric. Up front, there was no place for a central striker. Karim Benzema and Álvaro Morata were left on the bench, with Bale making only his second start alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Ángel Di María.
To start with, it was the Welshman theoretically at centre-forward, although the three men exchanged positions often. He got the first touch of the 226th clásico. His was the first shot too, when Xavi's challenge sent the ball his way on 14 minutes and from 25 yards he thumped it high over the bar. A moment later he was looking to head the ball back across the face of the goal near the edge of the six-yard box. He it was who most often threatened but that threat was occasional and rarely serious.
Bale did not always look comfortable, getting a yellow card just before half-time for a high foot that might have been permitted in England and walking off at the break telling the referee Undiano Mallenco he had got the ball. Nor did Madrid. There was much dialogue and raising of hands, a hint of uncertainty in the movement and positioning. Gerardo Martino had warned of the need to prevent Madrid from running counterattacks and, from a slightly deeper position than normal, his side did so. There was rarely any of the space in which Bale and Ronaldo thrive.
The home side were taking control. Martino had he left out Alexis Sánchez in favour of a formation that allowed Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fábregas to play together in front of Sergio Busquets, with Fábregas usually the closest to the front two of Neymar and Messi on left and right respectively. And if Bale's first clásico was not going as he would wish, Neymar's was. The Camp Nou had just finished chanting for Catalan independence, starting in the 17th minute and 14th second, when he got the opening goal.
A moment before he had jinked to bring an easy save from Diego López. Now Iniesta created the chance, not so much sprinting through as skating. His ball found Neymar in the inside-left position and he took two swift touches to control before guiding the ball into the far corner with his right foot.
Less than two minutes later, Iniesta produced an even better pass, this time into the right hand channel. Leo Messi went racing into the area but, wanting the shot on his left foot, allowed Pepe to get across and his effort drifted wide.
It appeared an important miss too: Barcelona were on top, Madrid still struggling to get a foothold, but recent years have suggested it takes little for Madrid to score here and there was a stark warning in the last minute of the first half when Ronaldo escaped down the left, past Gerard Piqué and pulled back a hard, low cross with his left foot. Sami Khedira skidded in to make contact and Valdés saved on the goalline with Adriano sliding in. The ball ran free and when Khedira got up he demanded a penalty. The ball had hit the full-back's hand.
The threat never fully went away. Neymar had the best chance of the second half's opening exchanges when his shot on the bounce was pushed away by López after a glorious diagonal ball reached him from, Iniesta but 12 minutes in Ronaldo had an opportunity to equalise. This time Iniesta, put in a compromising position by Busquets, lost possession to Khedira. He found Modric, whose angled pass put Ronaldo in but Valdés saved sharply at the near post.
By then, Ancelotti had removed Ramos and soon after Bale departed too. Madrid began to have more of the ball and only Di María's heavy tough on 65 minutes prevented him from getting in. Then Benzema headed over, although the linesman's flag had already been raised. There was an edginess to Barcelona now, nerves.
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