“Seven goals, three penalties, a Lionel Messi hat-trick, a red card for Sergio Ramos and three points for Barcelona. This was a classic clasico, full of attacking verve, controversy and incident, and it leaves the Spanish title race closer than ever after a 4-3 Barcelona win over Real Madrid. Atletico and Real Madrid head the table on 70 points, with Barcelona just one further back after Sunday’s game. By completing the double over the their greatest rivals, Barcelona’s Gerardo Martino has gleaned at least something in what is likely to be his only season as manager. And yet, exciting as it was, full of twists and turns including four lead changes, the defending was an asterisk on an otherwise memorable game. The harum-scarum nature of the game, the excellence of some of the attacking play, the sense of the stakes involved, made it thoroughly gripping, but the fact is that much of the defending was suspect.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Barcelona and Real Madrid produce the clásico of the century
“As one former Barcelona player puts it: ‘It is the game of the century, even if there are eight of them a year.’ It is a comment not just on the excellence and the expectation that comes with Real Madrid v Barcelona but also on their eclipse of all else, on the dominance and potential dilution of a rivalry in which they have played each other 19 times in the last four seasons and will meet at least once more this and in which they alone account for over 60% of Spanish football fans and millions more round the world; on the pressure, the power and the politics; on the way every meeting appears to end eras and close cycles, epochs defined in a day; and on the impossibility of ever living up to the hype.” Guardian

Show Your Neck to Dracula! Barça–Real Madrid Play a Clásico for the Ages
“I have never seen a Greco-Roman wrestling match between a ballistic missile and the world’s most prolific knitter of blankets, but I imagine it looks something like yesterday’s El Clásico, a.k.a. Wichita State–Kentucky, Except Everyone’s Getting Paid, a.k.a. WHY CAN’T I STOP MYSELF FROM SCREAMING IN LATIN?” Grantland (Video)

Barcelona’s thrilling 4-3 win in Sunday’s El Clasico
“Barcelona breathed new life into their La Liga title hopes as a Lionel Messi hat-trick helped fire them to victory in a thrilling match at 10-man Real Madrid. Andres Iniesta shot into the top corner before Karim Benzema’s brace put Real ahead. Messi restored parity soon after but Cristiano Ronaldo restored Real’s lead from the penalty spot. After Sergio Ramos was sent off, Messi won the game with two penalties.” BBC