There was a hint of sadness about Saturday's El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. It was the first time Barcelona were playing a home game after the death of Johann Cruyff, the Dutch legend who as manager took the club to their first ever European Cup triumph in 1992 and laid the seeds for their sustained present success.
To celebrate the legend, the Catalan giants put up a spectacular tribute. The players wore a special kit with "Gràcies Johan" emblazoned on it. A special video tribute played to Cruyff and the massive crowd put up a mosaic, spelling out the same words in the stands before the teams observed a one minute silence (video above).
The match in question had a disappointing result for the capacity crowd that turned up. Barcelona's Gerard Pique did score the opening goal just after the half-time mark, but the Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio were neutralised by some heavy Real Madrid defending. Karim Benzema scored the equaliser in the 62nd minute and their Wales star Gareth Bale should have scored the winner, but had his goal unfairly overruled.
On a special night, it was left to Cristiano Ronaldo to put his touch on the game. After remaining anonymous for most of the game, he chested down a Bale cross in the 85th minute before scoring to give Real Madrid a somewhat unexpected win in an emotional El Clasico.
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