Fans were left disappointed after an insipid performance by Barcelona and Lionel Messi in 2019-20 La Liga El Clasico saw the Catalan club go down 0-2 against fierce rivals Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu. Barcelona, who before the start of the El Clasico, led the La Liga points table and were three clear of the second-placed Real, now find themselves a point behind Zinedine Ziande’s men after Vinicius Junior and substitute Mariano’s second-half strikes guided them to a 2-0 victory. And fans of the Catalan club, who expected Barcelona to run through a three-match winless Madrid side, were left with a sour taste after seeing their side succumb to a 0-2 defeat and trolled the Barcelona talisman for his disappointing outing and failure to find the net. La Liga 2019–20: Real Madrid Defeat Barcelona 2–0 in El Clasico to Regain Top Spot.

Messi, who scored four in the 5-0 rout of Eibar before the El Clasico, looked short of touch and was lethargic throughout the 90 minutes. Despite rumours claiming Messi was suffering from a thigh problem – he was also seen limping while walking into the stadium – the Argentine started the match but failed to inspire his side to a win. Messi, who has scored match-winners in plenty in the biggest match in Spain, had his opportunities to win the game for Barcelona even before Real Madrid had opened their shots on target account. But Messi’s poor attempt despite being through on goal was easily saved by Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

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Interestingly, two of Barcelona’s best opportunities of the El Clasico fell to Messi. The 32-year-old Argentine had a great chance to break the deadlock towards the end of the first half but his shot was straight at Courtois, who had also kept out Arthur and Antoine Griezmann in the same half. Then with 10 minutes remaining and Madrid 1-0 ahead, Frenkie de Jong burst through a group of Madrid players and found Messi clear and in plenty of space on the right. Messi raced ahead with Marcelo behind him.

But with Messi having an off-day, not only did Marcelo track him down but also prevented the six-time Ballon d'Or winner from producing a shot. The Brazilian fullback – picked ahead of the more impressive Ferland Mendy – celebrated with vigour and wildness as if he had just scored the winner. But that was another instance of Messi leaving fans wanting more from him in a game he had enjoyed tremendous success in recent years.

Meanwhile, to add more woes to Barcelona, Real Madrid with the 0-2 win dispossessed their arch-rivals off the perch and have now have gone a point clear at the top after 26 games. The win also halted Real Madrid’s three-match winless run, which included successive defeats. Barcelona, on the other, have dealt a major hit to their title defence and face Napoli in the Champions League next.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 02, 2020 01:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).