Jeremy Mathieu had seen his early opener cancelled out by Cristiano Ronaldo but Luis Suarez came to the rescue of FC Barcelona as the Catalans beat Real Madrid 2-1 to go four points clear at the top of La Liga. Barca coach Luis Enrique was pleased with the display of Luis Suarez and said that he knew what FC Barcelona were getting when signing the striker.
Luis Suarez made a disatrous start to his FC Barcelona career when the Blaugrana were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid back in October, but proved his real worth by scoring a winning goal against the eternal rivals of the Catalans.
Jeremy Mathieu put FC Barcelona ahead in the first half by scoring through a header, but Ronaldo levelled the scores in the 31st minute. Luis Suarez scored his seventh goal in as many games to put FC Barcelona in the driving seat in the 56th minute, meaning that the Catalans are ahead of Real Madrid by 4 points heading into the international break.
FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was seemingly pleased with the efforts of his players, especially Luis Suarez.
a Suarez played a game of a very high standard. He took that goal in a way very few others could have, but that is why we signed him and why we paid what we paid,a Luis Enrique told a post-match press conference.
a We are very happy with his commitment and what he brings to the team.a
a It was a very intense match between two of the best teams in the world and it is a nice victory for us,a Luis Enrique added.
a It was good to beat our arch-rivals and now we can enjoy our work, but this result will not be decisive.
a There are very important league matches to play and anyone can lose points.a
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was unhappy with the result of this encounter but said that he is satisfied with the performance of his players.
“I think we have watched two teams at a very high level,” Ancelotti said. “I think we played very well until the second goal. After that, the game became very difficult.
“We did very well in the first half, we had good control of the game, we were solid at the back, but in the end we lacked a cool head to earn a draw. We played a lot of long balls and had too few ideas.
“It’s hard to say if the best team won. We were better for the first hour, but for the last 30 minutes the counter-attacks of Barcelona were devastating. I think both teams deserved to do something important, but it’s FC Barcelona who won. Good for them.a