Karim Benzema hit the post and Cristiano Ronaldo was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen in a bright first half display but Luis Suarez put Barca in front 10 minutes into the second half after arriving unchallenged in the box to finish off a counterattack. "The game would have been different if we'd scored in the first half. Zidane did not say whether he felt Madrid still had a shot at defending the league title but vowed his side would rise again from this humbling defeat. Barca boss Ernesto Valverde said his side had not performed as they would have liked in the first half but praised them for outlasting their rivals physically. "In a game as physical as this you notice a difference as the game gets older and in the second half we could break with more freedom."

Source: The Star December 23, 2017 17:15 UTC