Ramos saves the day for Madrid in stoppage time

SERGIO Ramos’s stoppage time equaliser maintained Real Madrid’s six-point lead at the top of the Spanish La Liga as the European champions salvaged a 1-1 draw at Barcelona in yesterday’s El Clasico.

Luis Suárez looked to have breathed new life into the title race when he headed home the opener from Neymar’s free kick eight minutes into the second half.

Neymar and Lionel Messi then passed up huge chances to add to Barca’s advantage, and the hosts were made to pay when Real captain and defender Ramos met Luka Modric’s free kick with a powerful header to stretch the Galácticos’ unbeaten run in all competitions to 33 matches.

Before kick-off, both sides came together to pay homage to the 71 victims of the plane crash that almost wiped out Brazilian side Chapecoense’s squad in a plane crash in Colombia earlier in the week.

However, once the action got under way old hostilities were renewed as Madrid screamed for a penalty less than two minutes in. Lucas Vázquez went down under Javier Mascherano’s challenge, but referee Carlos Clos Gómez waved play on.

Barcelona enjoyed the majority of possession, but with captain Andres Iniesta left on the bench NOT IN THE SCRIPT: Barcelona’s Luis Suárez celebrates scoring a goal against rivals Real Madrid yesterday on his return from a two-month injury layoff, lacked the creativity to break down Madrid before the break.

At the other end, the spotlight was on Cristiano Ronaldo more than ever in the absence of the injured Gareth Bale and following allegations of grand scale tax avoidance published by a series of European media organisations yesterday.

The Portuguese came to life towards the end of the first half as he had Madrid’s first shot on target that was turned behind by Marc-Andre ter Stegen eight minutes before half time and the German denied another Ronaldo effort moments later.

Raphael Varane also headed straight at Ter Stegen as Madrid looked the more likely to break the deadlock.

However, Barca got the goal they badly needed to kickstart their title defence when Neymar’s free kick from the left found Suárez somehow unmarked to head home from point-blank range.

Iniesta was then introduced to a hero’s welcome and teed up Neymar for a huge chance to seal the three points 21 minutes from time. The Brazilian skipped past Dani Carvajal, but blasted over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

Iniesta produced a sublime pass to lay the chance Messi had been waiting for all afternoon on a plate, but the Argentine pulled his effort wide of the far post with just Keylor Navas to beat.

Barcelona were made to pay for their profligacy as Ramos rose unmarked to power home Modric’s free kick as the match entered stoppage time to silence the Camp Nou. —