A furious Lionel Messi ranted at referee Alejandro Hernandez last night after the official sent off Barca right-back Sergi Roberto just before half-time.
Barcelona opened the scoring through Luiz Suarez, before Cristiano Ronaldo leveled for the visitors. Early into the second half, Messi made the score 2-1 to Barca despite being ten-men down. By the evening was rounded off when Bale brought the deficit back through a fine first-time strike.
This season's title winners Barcelona were coming into the game in the knowledge that if they beat their arch-rivals, they would have a passed the biggest test in their mission to go through the whole league campaign without losing a game. It would be an unbelievable achievement and mimic that of the Arsenal side of 2004.
With this and the fact that it was an El Classico match, a usually fiery affair, things became heated still further when Hernandez sent off right-back Roberto on the stroke of half-time for lashing out at Madrid defender Marcelo.
Spanish outlet AS have say that Messi could not believe it and reportedly ranted at the referee during the interval. "You shit, you shit, and you shit, it's good to give them things."
He would have felt better moments later. Just after the break, Messi scored a wonder-goal, shimmying his way along the box before slamming the ball into the net from an extraordinary tight angle. But the home side's three points were denied by Bale's fine finish at the end.
Madrid defender and captain Sergio Ramos later said after the game. "Messi has put pressure on him in the tunnel, I do not know if that would have made him whistle differently in the second half.
These feisty comments encapsulated a heated evening in southern Spain. Real Madrid players refused to give La Liga winners Barca a guard of honour and so the home side had to conduct their own.
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