Real Madrid took the lead over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium after 16 minutes when star forward Cristiano Ronaldo dribbled past two defenders and passed to French forward Karim Benzema, who scored from 10 yards.
Trying to respond to Los Blancos' opening goal, Barcelona looked to control the tempo of the game by controlling the play in the midfield. Their tactical change paid off when Blaugrana star Lionel Messi exchanged passes with long-awaited debutant Luis Suarez, with the Argentine evading the challenge of Sergio Ramos and guiding the ball into the corner of the goal to level the score 1-1.
Barcelona maintained their level of dominance until the halftime whistle, with Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas stepping up from his inconsistent form of late and making a string of excellent saves to deny Messi, Neymar and Suarez.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti's halftime talk appeared to inspire his players as his club made a positive start to the second half, with Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez forcing Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen (in a rare league start) into a good save.
Despite this, Barcelona took the lead thanks to another bit of brilliance from Suarez. He jinked past Marcelo, brought the ball onto his right foot, and fired the ball past Casillas.
Real pushed forward in search of an equaliser and also brought on Mexican international Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez for Isco to add an extra attacking option.
After struggling to break through the Barcelona defence, Real were gifted an opportunity to tie the score seven minutes from time when Gerard Pique was adjudged to have fouled Rodriguez in the penalty area. Ronaldo stepped up and coolly sent ter Stegen the wrong way. This clasico doesn't disappoint and leaves both sides encouraged for the rest of the season.
Final score: Real Madrid 2-2 Barcelona
Scorers:
Real Madrid -- Benzema, Ronaldo
Barcelona -- Messi, Suarez
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