BY Remi Sulola
Football legend Zinedine Zidane passed his biggest test yet as a manager, leading Real Madrid to a thrilling 2-1 away victory over their eternal rivals on the night late Icon Johan Cruyff was honoured in front of a packed crowd of 99,264 fans.
Gerrard Pique opened the scoring in the 53rd minutes off a corner kick, outsmarting his marker Pepe before positioning himself to nod home despite the defender’s distractions.
Real hit back in the 61st minute with a stylish goal by Karim Benzema, who scored his second against Barcelona this season and his eighth goal of the season.
Benzema was replaced in the 78th minute by Jese Rodriguez. A minute later, a controversial call was made as Gareth Bale thought he had scored the winner for Real, but it was chopped off for infringing on Jordi Alba as he rose to head home.
Sergio Ramos was red-carded in the 82nd minutes for a foul on Luiz Sanchez but Real Madrid stole the show in the 84th minute, via a counter attack as Ronaldo became the hero, chesting down a well-worked cross before firing home.
Real won it 2-1. Barca had gone 39 games unbeaten before this splendid El Classico, setting up more excitement for the La Liga.
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