No white Christmas for Real Madrid as Lionel Messi and Barcelona leave Zinedine Zidane staring at a bleak winter

Real Madrid’s ultras pleaded pre-match for a white Christmas, but instead they found themselves frozen out of La Liga’s title race, 14 points adrift of Barcelona who beat them soundly 3-0 at the Bernabeu.

Second-half goals from Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and, with the final kick of the game Aleix Vidal, didn’t just increase the buffer that Barca have on Madrid, it made that gap virtually unbridgeable and Barcelona head into the second half of their season knowing their eternal rivals are way back in the rear-view mirror.

This wasn’t a game they dominated in the traditional sense but it was one where, once ahead, they looked completely in control. But it is worth noting that it was the hosts who had the better of a bitty first half where both sides seemed more obsessed with stopping the other from creating than producing anything worthwhile themselves.

Mateo Kovacic was a surprise inclusion and he spent much of the first half doing a man-marking job on Lionel Messi, but it meant Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio and Isco all had to settle for places on the bench.

As a result, the first 45 minutes or so of this clásico lacked the sort of blistering attacking play which we usually expect from the fixture. It was a classic by name but not by nature until a second half that feels like it might have won Barca the title and it’s not even January yet.

Kovacic’s diligent Messi-marking role was the most intriguing tactical aspect of this game but the opening goal came in a passage of play where Messi didn’t even touch the ball. Kovacic, the Argentine’s shadow, followed him but left a gaping hole in the centre of the park and when Sergio Busquets squeezed the ball to Ivan Rakitic, there was green grass for the Barca man to run into.

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With options right and left, Rakitic went right to Sergi Roberto who himself went left, sweeping a low cross to the far post for Luis Suarez to hammer home.

The Uruguayan didn’t have his best game and he does look to have lost the explosion off the mark that made him such a danger when turning defenders. But his finish was perfect, holding Keylor Navas with his eyes and putting Madrid in a bind.

Zinedine Zidane’s future will no doubt be the subject of speculation this week, and had it been a different coach in charge of Real Madrid then you wonder if they might have been sacked already. Zidane played a defensive side for a home clásico that his team simply had to win. They didn’t.

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Rafael Benitez did virtually the same thing and was unemployed shortly afterwards. Rafa didn’t have back-to-back Champions League titles to point to but it will be an uncomfortable Christmas period for the Frenchman whatever happens.

Barcelona doubled their lead in a wild passage of play where they should have scored twice and appeared to do so anyway, only for the referee to blow his whistle and dismiss Dani Carvajal. The full-back had handled on the line to prevent a goal and there was only one outcome. Messi buried the penalty to spark an exodus from the Bernabeu and hand Barca a seemingly unassailable lead over their most-hated rivals.

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Madrid threw on Bale and Marco Asensio but at no point did there appear to be any sort of plan or structure to their attack. Barcelona happily slowed down the rest of the game and frustrated their hosts, adding a third goal late in proceedings when much of the home support were already sat on the Madrid metro, darting away from the Santiago Bernabeu.

The home side had hoped for a white Christmas but instead there’s snow hope. Whether Zidane finds himself out in the cold is the only question that remains.