Real celebrates draw as ‘win’ in Barcelona
Print Edition
THINGS couldn’t be going much better for Real Madrid. Even the draws are feeling like victories.
Real was celebrating Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou, which kept the team with a comfortable advantage over its rival atop the Spanish league.
“This point feels like a win,” Real Madrid left back Marcelo said. “We fought hard and gave our best playing away against a tough rival. We never gave up. We knew that a point here would really help us.”
Sergio Ramos’ dramatic 90th-minute header kept Real six points ahead of Barcelona after 14 rounds, and extended the rival’s series of disappointing results. The Catalan club has drawn three consecutive league games and has won only two of its last seven games.
“A goal like that in the ‘clasico’ feel almost like a win,” Madrid midfielder Luka Modric said. “It is a hugely important and deserved point. We fought until the end and never gave up. It is vital that we remain leaders and we don’t let up, we must keep going like this.”
The result extended Real’s unbeaten run to 33 games, one short of the team record set under coach Leo Beenhakker in the 1988-89 season, and six short of Barcelona’s Spanish record of 39 consecutive games without a loss last season, a streak that ended with a late defeat to Real when the teams played at Camp Nou for the last time before Saturday’s match.
Real hasn’t been defeated since April at Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals of last season’s Champions League.
“We are pleased with the point but we know that La Liga will remain difficult until the end,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane said. “We have to keep working hard until the end.”
Real has won two Champions League titles in the last three seasons, but it hasn’t lifted the league trophy since 2012. Barcelona has won three titles and Atletico Madrid one.
It was Barcelona’s third consecutive draw, and second in a row at Camp Nou. In seven home league matches this season, it won only three times and endured an embarrassing 1-2 loss to promoted Alaves in the third round.
“We are losing more points than usual at home,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “We are lacking strength at Camp Nou.
“We have to improve, especially at home. We have to improve our numbers, because when playing in our stadium we are far from where we need to be if we want to win the league.”
The draw on Saturday felt even more disappointing considering that Barcelona played well in the second half and had two great chances to put the game away, first through Neymar and then Lionel Messi. Both missed from close range.
“This can happen when you don’t seal the victory when you have a chance,” said Barcelona goal scorer Luis Suarez said. “We have to find a way to show our strength when playing at home and keep putting pressure on Madrid.”
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