Ronaldo leads Real to Camp Nou victory

“I congratulate Real Madrid on their victory and on the league title,” said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola after watching his side suffer a first Liga clásico defeat under his stewardship on Saturday night. Mathematically, the title is not yet Real’s, but a seven-point advantage with four games remaining makes it practically impossible that the trophy will not return to the Bernabéu for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

The defeat was Barça’s second in succession — something that has not happened in almost three years. Chelsea eked out a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge last Wednesday, leaving the Champions League semifinal delicately poised, and Guardiola must rally his flagging troops for a final charge in Europe and the domestic cup competition. In the league, the Barça coach may well choose to give some youngsters a bit of pitch time. First is out of reach and Valencia is 29 points adrift of second, although personal goals remain alive: Leo Messi’s pichichi battle with Cristiano Ronaldo and Víctor Valdés’ pursuit of a fourth Zamora award.

When the season is reviewed, questions may be asked of Guardiola’s tactical set-up against Real, although there is little doubt it was forced by considerations ahead of Chelsea’s visit. However, throwing a 20-year-old B team winger into a game of this magnitude and playing an attacking midfielder, Thiago, closer to his own goal than that of the opposition was bold to say the least.

With little service coming his way through a congested midfield, Messi spent the evening looking like he would rather have been anywhere else. The thunderous look he sported throughout was a miniature portrait of Barça’s frustration.

“I can’t say if there will be a psychological effect for the Chelsea game,” said Guardiola. “We will try to find a way to attack Chelsea but now we have to rest and recover and try to forget tonight’s game as quickly as possible.”

It was only Guardiola’s second clásico defeat in 14 games as Barça boss, but for many of Real’s players it was the first experience of the giving the eternal foe one in the eye in its own fiefdom.

Few were happier than Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been accused of going missing in games such as Saturday’s. But on this occasion he upstaged Messi with aplomb. The Portuguese almost opened the scoring with an early header and eventually gave his team victory with a well-taken goal on the break on 74 minutes.

“I have scored the last three times I have played here but the key to the match was the team,” said Ronaldo. “The seven-point lead leaves us in a comfortable position but we have to remember the next games are also important.”

Real faces Bayern Munich in the Bernabéu on Wednesday where it will attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg. By then, José Mourinho will know whether it will be Barcelona or Chelsea that will await the winner in Bucharest. In the case of the former, some of its aura of invincibility was shed at a soaking wet Camp Nou on Saturday night.