There was not supposed to be anything riding on this El Clasico clash – but someone forgot to tell the players as Real Madrid and Barcelona served up a delicious feat of football.

There were four goals, a red card and plenty of skirmishes as Barca twice took the lead, initially through Luis Suarez and then Lionel Messi – the latter scored despite being reduced to 10 men after Sergi Roberto was sent off – either side of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s equaliser.

Gareth Bale scored a spectacular second for Real as the hosts’ unbeaten run lives on.

Here, Andy West rates the Madrid players:

Keylor Navas – 7: Came out well at Messi’s feet in first half and saved well on three occasions from the Argentine in the second.

Nacho – 5: Looked off the pace on his return to action, seeing yellow for a foul on Suarez before being replaced.

Raphael Varane – 6: Good early block to deny Suarez a clear chance. Booked for pulling back Suarez and lost out in second goal.

Sergio Ramos – 7: A generally good performance but could have been sent off after provoking a needless tussle with Suarez.

Marcelo – 7: Repeatedly out of position defensively but repeatedly a threat going forward – so a fairly typical performance.

Luka Modric – 7: Helped Madrid take control of the game in the first half and always looked classy in possession.

Casemiro – 7: Very good game defensively. Subdued Messi in the first half and regularly broke up Barca attacks.

Toni Kroos – 6: Great run and cross to spark leveller, but he wasn’t always able to exert a major influence.

Gareth Bale – 5: Struggled defensively against Alba and did little going forward until he pounced with a fine strike for the leveller.

Karim Benzema – 6: Regularly dropped deep to link play, combining well for Ronaldo in the first half. Quiet after the break.

Cristiano Ronaldo – 8: Outstanding before being forced off with a foot injury at half-time. Scored the equaliser and regularly threatened more.

SUBS

Marco Asensio – 5: Came on for Ronaldo at half-time. Fired early chance at Ter Stegen but did little else.

Lucas Vazquez – 6: Played the final 20 minutes at right-back and was steady, but wasted some good crossing positions.

Mateo Kovacic – N/A: Late entrant for Kroos in midfield.