Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored twice as Barcelona and Real Madrid drew 2-2 in a politically-charged Clasico on Sunday which kept the Catalan giants eight points ahead of their bitter rivals.
Ronaldo put Madrid ahead after 23 minutes but Messi responded just after the half hour mark with Barca having shown little going forward.
The 98,000 capacity crowd of vociferous Catalans glimpsed the possibility of going 11 points clear after Messi struck a free-kick to put them ahead after the break but Ronaldo responded five minutes later.
In the dying stages, Barca had the chance to win it with Martin Montoya hitting the woodwork.
On a tense night at Camp Nou, fans created a mosaic of the Catalan flag, ‘The Senyera’, in a clear demonstration of the nationalist fervour in the region where many want independence from Spain.
In a surprise move, Barca lined up with Adriano Correia in the centre of defence alongside Javier Mascherano with Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique both injured.
Real coach Jose Mourinho put his confidence in the side which won the league last season with Mesut Ozil returning to the starting line-up.
In a cautious opening, Barca had possession but were generally too deep and the Madrid players were happy to sit on the halfway line, looking to pounce when their moves broke down.
Despite their impressive winning streak, which had yielded six victories in the opening six La Liga matches, Barca have lacked their usual silky passing and their hesitation was made worse by a lack of confidence in their defence.
The general air of nationalism was again demonstrated after 17 minutes and 14 seconds when fans raised their Senyera flags and chanted for freedom for Catalonia.
Sergio Ramos had the chance to put Madrid in the driving seat after 20 minutes but allowed a clear header from a corner he was unable to hit the target.
Madrid looked the more incisive side going forward and they got their reward when Ronaldo beat keeper Victor Valdes at his near post with a low left-foot drive after being played in by Benzema.
He then failed to double the advantage, leaning back with his shot from 12 yards, and the ball came back off the post while Di Maria hit the follow-up wide.
It got worse for Barca with Dani Alves limping off to be replaced by youth product Montoya.
Pepe jumped and failed to connect with the ball which dropped at the feet of Messi in front of goal and he slotted home.
It was at this moment that Barcelona received a moment of inspiration from Messi with a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner.
Ronaldo though was not to be outdone and, latching onto an Ozil pass in the area he finished clinically.
INTER WIN MILAN DERBY
Ten-man Inter Milan survived a second-half assault by city rivals AC Milan to win 1-0 at the San Siro Sunday and claim their 50th Milan derby win in Serie A.
Inter and Milan began the match, the 157th to be played between the sides in Serie A, with 49 wins apiece from 156 meetings.
However, it was Inter who emerged with the bragging rights after Argentinian Walter Samuel stunned a large majority of the 73,000 crowd with a fourth-minute winner.
‘There were two good points tonight, one was the way we approached this game and the second was how we handled it when we were a man down for the second half,’ said Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni.
Andreo Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio hit goals for Juventus as they won 2-1 away to Siena. Miroslav Klose kept Lazio in contention with a double strike in a 3-0 win over Pescara.Catalania beat Parma 2-0.
Ronaldo put Madrid ahead after 23 minutes but Messi responded just after the half hour mark with Barca having shown little going forward.
The 98,000 capacity crowd of vociferous Catalans glimpsed the possibility of going 11 points clear after Messi struck a free-kick to put them ahead after the break but Ronaldo responded five minutes later.
In the dying stages, Barca had the chance to win it with Martin Montoya hitting the woodwork.
On a tense night at Camp Nou, fans created a mosaic of the Catalan flag, ‘The Senyera’, in a clear demonstration of the nationalist fervour in the region where many want independence from Spain.
In a surprise move, Barca lined up with Adriano Correia in the centre of defence alongside Javier Mascherano with Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique both injured.
Real coach Jose Mourinho put his confidence in the side which won the league last season with Mesut Ozil returning to the starting line-up.
In a cautious opening, Barca had possession but were generally too deep and the Madrid players were happy to sit on the halfway line, looking to pounce when their moves broke down.
Despite their impressive winning streak, which had yielded six victories in the opening six La Liga matches, Barca have lacked their usual silky passing and their hesitation was made worse by a lack of confidence in their defence.
The general air of nationalism was again demonstrated after 17 minutes and 14 seconds when fans raised their Senyera flags and chanted for freedom for Catalonia.
Sergio Ramos had the chance to put Madrid in the driving seat after 20 minutes but allowed a clear header from a corner he was unable to hit the target.
Madrid looked the more incisive side going forward and they got their reward when Ronaldo beat keeper Victor Valdes at his near post with a low left-foot drive after being played in by Benzema.
He then failed to double the advantage, leaning back with his shot from 12 yards, and the ball came back off the post while Di Maria hit the follow-up wide.
It got worse for Barca with Dani Alves limping off to be replaced by youth product Montoya.
Pepe jumped and failed to connect with the ball which dropped at the feet of Messi in front of goal and he slotted home.
It was at this moment that Barcelona received a moment of inspiration from Messi with a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner.
Ronaldo though was not to be outdone and, latching onto an Ozil pass in the area he finished clinically.
INTER WIN MILAN DERBY
Ten-man Inter Milan survived a second-half assault by city rivals AC Milan to win 1-0 at the San Siro Sunday and claim their 50th Milan derby win in Serie A.
Inter and Milan began the match, the 157th to be played between the sides in Serie A, with 49 wins apiece from 156 meetings.
However, it was Inter who emerged with the bragging rights after Argentinian Walter Samuel stunned a large majority of the 73,000 crowd with a fourth-minute winner.
‘There were two good points tonight, one was the way we approached this game and the second was how we handled it when we were a man down for the second half,’ said Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni.
Andreo Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio hit goals for Juventus as they won 2-1 away to Siena. Miroslav Klose kept Lazio in contention with a double strike in a 3-0 win over Pescara.Catalania beat Parma 2-0.