Barcelona not only won the first Clasico of La Liga's season, it may have effectively ruled defending champion Real Madrid out of the title race.

Barcelona is threatening to run away Spain, as it now sits 14 points clear of fourth-place Real Madrid (which has a game in hand) after a 3-0 win at the Bernabeu on Saturday, with Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Aleix Vidal getting on the scoresheet. Making matters better for Barcelona, second-place Atletico Madrid lost for the first time on Friday, meaning that the undefeated Catalan power will have at least an eight-point lead by the end of the week, while putting Real Madrid effectively to the sword with five months to go in the season.

Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid, fresh off another Club World Cup title, instead finds itself in an uncharacteristic fight for a top-four place while perhaps shifting the entirety of its focus to the Champions League, where it must face mighty PSG in the round of 16.

Real Madrid was seeking a quick start and nearly got it through Cristiano Ronaldo in the second minute. He was unmarked for a second header by the far post off a corner kick, but he was well offside before receiving the ball, with his opportunity off the underside of the crossbar disallowed.
Ronaldo had another golden opportunity in the 11th minute, with a cutback pass from Toni Kroos on the left finding Ronaldo at almost the same spot where Messi won El Clasico at the Bernabeu in April. The Portuguese star whiffed on his opportunity, though, and Dani Carvajal couldn't turn the inadvertent dummy on frame, under pressure from a recovering Andres Iniesta.

Real Madrid continued to apply the pressure, but perhaps it was Ronaldo putting too much pressure on himself, as he opted to fire away into traffic from the left channel instead of finding a wide-open Luka Modric in the box. The Croatian star, who was calling for the pass, showed his frustration after Ronaldo's shot was easily blocked in the 21st minute.

Barcelona's first true chance came in the 30th minute. Messi lifted it forward for Paulinho with a pinpoint pass, but the Brazilian's agile volley off the bounce was tipped out by goalkeeper Keylor Navas for a corner kick.

Ronaldo nearly struck on the ensuing foray forward, with the Real Madrid star stepping over and torturing his mark before sending a bouncing chance on frame that goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen tipped around the post for a corner with a kick save. continue

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