Camp Nou far from a safe haven for Barcelona this season

Barcelona enjoyed the majority of possession, but with captain Andres Iniesta left on the bench on his return from a two-month injury layoff, lacked the creativity to break down Madrid before the break.

Barca coach Luis Enrique picked the same team that he said produced the worst display of his tenure to draw 1-1 at Real Sociedad last week and they struggled to prise open an organised Real side.

Casemiro did not start from the beginning and he entered in the last 30 minutes: ” When Casemiro entered on the pitch we were more offensive because Kovacic and Modric. He never gives up.

Zidane said in his postmatch news conference that Ramos and his teammates had the character to keep going until the end, and often got their reward.

Sergio Ramos powered in the resulting delivery from Luka Modric in the 90th minute to snatch a 1-1 draw for Zinedine Zidane’s side and hand Barcelona their third draw in a row. “It is a hugely important and deserved point”.

“I believe that because of how well we performed throughout the game”.

Confidence around Camp Nou had been shaky given Barca’s awful showing in the draw with Real Sociedad last week, but the crowd made their approval clear as the home side began to control proceedings shortly after Andres Iniesta came off the bench for his first appearance since October.

Real Madrid’s first attempt on target arrived in the 16th minute when Ronaldo angled a header towards goal, but it was always comfortable for Marc-Andre ter Stegen. This is a long-run thing and we have to work hard until the end. But since then it has thrived, winning nine of its last 11 games.

“It’s obvious that Iniesta is a player who is different, a player who is world class”, Luis Enrique said afterwards when asked about the midfielder.

“We’ve been trying to hit the ground running since the first week, but now there’s a team ahead of us who have gone a long time without losing and have a very big squad that helps them pick up points”.

He hasn’t lived up to expectations at the Nou Camp, and his Clasico performance did nothing to endear him to Barcelona fans. He also scored an equalizer – after 90 minutes were up – against Sevilla in this season’s UEFA Super Cup, with Madrid again emerging the victor.

For all the hype it had been a low-quality match, and one which certainly now gives Madrid the edge in this season’s title race.

Barcelona’s next home game is Tuesday against German side Borussia Moenchengladbach in the final round of the group stage of the Champions League. The victor at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium will secure first place in Group F. Borussia arrives with a two-point lead over the defending champions. The victories came against Real Betis (6-2), Deportivo La Coruna (4-0) and Granada (1-0), all teams that are near the bottom of the Spanish league standings.