Barcelona striker Luis Suarez put Real Madrid to the sword in El Clasico with an unforgettable performance, and the Uruguayan said it proved that his side can win even without the talismanic figure of Lionel Messi.
In a convincing 5-1 win over Los Blancos, Suarez scored a stunning hat-trick as the Catalans ran riot. “It’s better that we’ve got Leo, he’s the best in the world, but as a team we’ve got to be proud,” he said.
“We showed that we’re a great team even without Messi, but with a world class coach.”
In the early stages of the second-half Madrid did threaten to get back in the game, but once again the former Liverpool hit-man was keen to praise the character of his teammates.
“In the second half, Madrid came out to dominate the play, scored and made even more opportunities but we worked so hard, ran ourselves into the ground and they ended up leaving spaces…” Suarez added.
“We were able to exploit them on the counter and put a positive result out of reach for them.”
Barça’s 5-1 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday at Camp Nou, marked the first time in 64 years the Catalans have beaten their arch-rivals at home by such a score.
It came in 2 February 1954 at the Les Corts ground, when Barça was coached by Ferdinand Daucik.
One big difference was that in 1954, Madrid took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Alfredo Di Stefano. Barça, however, scored five unanswered goals to run away with the match. Tejada drew Barça level before the break, and in the second half César, Moreno, Tejada, and Manchón all found the net.
Other recent routs
There have been similar results recently, though not the same. Barça won 5-0 at Camp Nou in 1994, and 5-0 at Madrid in 1974. Barça also won at the Bernabéu 6-2 in 2009 and 4-0 in 2015.