Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has described Real Madrid as ‘not very clever’ when chasing an equaliser during Sunday’s El Clasico.
Marcelo’s goal early in the second half reduced Barca’s advantage to 2-1 before Luka Modric hit the post and Karim Benzema missed a glorious header, while the hosts ran out 5-1 winners.
“Madrid were not very clever when they had the opportunity to equalise,” Rakitic told reporters, as cited by Marca.
“We were able to get lots of bodies in the box and fight to make sure we stayed in front, then we were in a position to react.
“We played a great match from the first minute to the last, we were totally superior in the result and in the performance.
“The third goal helped us a lot because when that went in it gave us peace of mind and allowed us to play naturally again.
“We know we can continue to get better and improve as we have been doing in recent weeks.
“It is never easy when Leo is not playing but we hope he recovers and takes all the time he needs.”
