The Barcelona faithful will tell you that they are always going to be better than Madrid.  The Madrid faithful will likely point to the fact that this is one game out of a long season.  Whatever side you choose, each El Clásico game is and will continue to be a classic.

As an American born, Liverpool fan, who always thought the Barclay’s Premier League was the dominant league, this game used to mean nothing to me, but once I was introduced to La Liga, there was no turning back.  I heard all of the reasons not to like Madrid, but watching Raúl lead his club, even if they weren’t winning, sealed it for me.  The addition of Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool, devastating on one front, was the icing on the cake on the other.

This first edition of El Clásico started so well for Los Blancos.  At 23 seconds, the Madridistas at the Santiago Bernabéu, who had barely sat down, were suddenly standing and screaming with excitement.  Karim Benzema had scored the opener on a Victor Valdés error.  It was the fastest goal in El Clásico history.  Barcelona was going down!

A strike from Alexis Sanchez, however, tamed those wild thoughts of victory as he tied the match in the 29^th minute.  Even thousands of miles away, you could sense the tension in the air at the Bernabéu.  The game remained level until halftime, but the uncharacteristically sloppy Barcelona team from the first few minutes of the game had reverted to the team that won the Champions League and La Liga last year.  At the 53^rd minute, Barcelona took the lead which forced Madrid to go on the offensive, leaving themselves exposed at the back.  Madrid would get further chances, as would Barcelona, but a 66^th minute goal by Cesc Fàbregas would make a comeback extremely challenging. 

In the end, the comeback would not be there.  Kaká would come on for Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira for Lass Diarra and Gonzalo Higuain for Ángel Di María, but it would not be enough and the scoreboard at the end of the game would show Real Madrid 1 – Barcelona 3.

There was no denying this game was important for Barcelona.  Being six points off of Madrid would have been a challenging place to come back from.  Barcelona knew it wasn’t a do-or-die situation, however.  This was only the first of two games this season, there are a lot of games to play in La Liga and the second game is in their house and they don’t lose at the Camp Nou. 

This weekend has now become more important for Real Madrid, however.  Barcelona’s game in hand will become obsolete once Madrid faces Sevilla on Saturday.  If Madrid wins, they retake a solid three point lead in La Liga.  If they lose, Barcelona will hold the top spot and likely become more motivated than ever to hold on to that lead.

For now, the Madridistas are left to ponder the obvious questions.  What if they had…?  Could they have…?  Should they have…?  However, those questions will have to hold until April 21.  128 days and counting…  ¡Hala Madrid!

A.J. Nelson can be found on Twitter @FootieObsessed