Topics: Real Madrid, Barecelona, La Liga, Luis Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi
An offside from Ronaldo prohibited Madrid from taking a 2-1 lead in the first half. Suárez had his debut with Barcelona against Madrid back in October 2014

Barcelona defeated Real Madrid in the 230th edition of El Clasico at Camp Nou on Sunday 2-1. The last 18 of these games have gone by without a clean sheet. Cristiano Ronaldo edged Lionel Messi, but Luis Suarez saved the day for the home team. 

Messi was far from the brilliance he has shown in past games. He was coming into El Clasico after scoring a hat trick against Rayo Vallecano and a brace against Eibar. He did assist Jeremy Matthieu in the first half with a great free kick. Other than that, he did not play a major role throughout the match. The leading scorer of La Liga left the game scoreless. 

WATCH: Messi assisting Matthieu from a free kick opportunity

Cristiano Ronaldo on the other hand did add his name to the scoresheet by finishing a masterful play assisted by Karim Benzema. The Portuguese ended a two-game streak in the domestic league where he had not scored. That was his 15th goal against Los Cules. Later on, he found himself offside in a play in which Gareth Bale scored, but didn’t count.

WATCH: From Modric to Benzema and Ronaldo with the finish 

 

It was Luis Suárez who saved the day for Barcelona. The Uruguayan striker has found his groove in Luis Enrique’s team and with the game-winning goal against Madrid, he's found the back of the net in five of the last seven games. This time, Dani Alves sent him a 40-yard long pass; Suarez controlled it with one touch and buried the ball with another one just ten minutes into the second half.

WATCH: Just give Suarez one good ball and he'll take care of the rest

Iker Casillas, who was heavily criticized for his performance against Schalke 04, was crucial in the final minutes of the game to keep Messi and company away from celebrating a goal. The Argentinian did however, rejoice in the fact that his team won and they now stands four points atop of Los Merengues. 

These two teams won’t meet again in the regular season. They do, however, still hold a chance of facing off in either the semi-final or final of the UEFA Champions League.