Barcelona dominated by Madrid in Clasico stalemate

17 years.

It has been 17 years since a Clasico went goalless. Real Madrid were brilliant on the night and absolutely dominated hosts Barcelona, but it was Barcelona who missed two obvious chances as the match ended in a stalemate.

Real Madrid were on the money from the word go and throughout the match, the hosts played catch up but never could. Lionel Messi managed to pick the lock in a couple of occasions, but Jordi Alba and Messi himself missed two sitters to ensure that the teams stayed level on top.

Zinedine Zidane's side were relentless and Ernesto Valverde's decision to not start Sergio Busquets looked a costly one as they had absolutely no control over the midfield and continuously lost the ball in crucial areas. Real Madrid were the side to come closest to the goal first as Casemiro's header was cleared off the line by Gerard Pique, before Marc Andre Ter Stegen pulled out a couple of saves to deny Benzema and Casemiro.

Messi then came close to scoring but was also denied courtesy of a goal line clearance from his counterpart Sergio Ramos in the 31^st minute. But 10 minutes later, the Argentine set up a beautifully chipped ball on a plate for Jordi Alba to score, but the Spanish left-back only managed to put it wide.

The first half ended goalless and at the beginning of the second half it looked like that Barcelona had grown a little in confidence. Another great chance came the Catalans way in the 60^th minute, but an uncharacteristic miss from the best player in the world saw the score stay 0-0.

Real managed to put the ball in the net as Gareth Bale tapped in a cross from Ferland Mendy, but the left-back was offside in the buildup, leading the goal to be disallowed.

The game became more open in the dying moments but neither could Real Madrid use up their brilliant buildup nor could Barcelona create good chances as the match ended in a deadlock.

This match marked another great achievement for Ansu Fati, who came on as a substitute for Antoine Griezmann, as the 17-year old became the youngest player for Barcelona to feature in an El Clasico.

This match marks Messi's fifth Clasico in a row where he has not score, which an unusual event considering his marvelous record in this high voltage fixture. This match also marked Sergio Ramos' record 43^rd appearance in the Clasico, with Messi close on 42. Also, Ernesto Valverde touched Pep Guardiola as this the Barcelona boss' seventh match without a defeat in this fixture. 

This draw means both the sides are now on 36 points in the league with Barcelona topping Madrid by a slender margin in goal difference.