Zidane Keeps Clean Record In First El Classico As Madrid Manager

It was celebration in the capital city of Spain, as Real Madrid stole a 2-1 away victory over league leaders Barcelona, in an intriguing El Clasico clash that gave credence to Zinedine Zidane in his first El Clasico match. Barcelona defeated Madrid 4-0 in the first leg this season, at Santiago Bernebea under  former Madrid manager Rafael Benitez and a second defeat was the major headache of Madrid manager, who ensured that Enrique's men did not get victory.

Zidane's men also put an end to Barcelona's long-run all-time unbeaten record of 39 matches in all competitions, reducing the ten points difference to seven in a match that was full of intrigue. All goals were scored in the second half with Gerard Pique opening scoring for the Catalans before Karim Benzema equalized and Cristiano Ronaldo got a late goal to seal up-victory for Zidane's men. Sergio Ramos got a red card after getting a second yellow for rough tackle. It seemed that was going to be the end of the game for Madrid, but the card however propelled and motivated the team to score the second and winning goal courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal. The match was full of tension, as both teams refused to rest players ahead of their Uefa champions league encounter, but still paraded their very best with the intention to win. Barcelona had an opportunity to take the lead in the first half when Luis Suarez missed an open net opportunity, but they paid dearly for it as that missed-chanced counted against them at the end of the 90 minutes of play. Madrid's victory may not necessarily give them an opportunity to win the title, but it disrupts Barcelona's dominance in all competition's which is a credit to Zidane in his first El Classico encounter as a manager. Though Barcelona possessed the ball, Zidane was able to curtail the damage Neymar, Messi and Suarez had been inflicting on teams as none of them recorded a goal in the match.