Real Madrid vs Barcelona Player Ratings

By FOX Sports staff

After seeing off Barca in midweek to book their place in the Copa del Rey final, Los Blancos took the lead after just six minutes when Karim Benzema netted from close range.

However, the Catalan outfit equalised 12 minutes later when Lionel Messi broke through and cut inside on his left foot, before firing past a hapless Diego Lopez.

But eight minutes from time, Sergio Ramos ventured forward to head home a Luka Modric corner and sent his side into next Tuesday's UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester United brimming with confidence.

Here, FOX Sports takes a look at the movers and shakers from Saturday's El Clasico at the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid

Diego Lopez - 6

Lopez didn't exactly have much to do throughout the game but he could have done much better to prevent Messi from equalising in the first half, after leaving too big a gap at his near post, allowing the Argentinean an easy target to fire at.

Michael Essien - 7.5

The Ghana international once again displayed his versatility by putting in a tireless shift at right-back, and did well to completely mark David Villa out of the game.

Essien also bombed forward whenever possible and played a key role as Real recorded an impressive win.

Sergio Ramos - 8

Ramos got off to a shaky start as he struggled to keep up with Messi's off-the-ball movement, and conceded a number of fouls in dangerous positions.

Nonetheless, he gradually found his rhythm and popped up with the winner in the 82nd minute when he sent an expertly-guided header into the top corner.

Raphael Varane - 8.5

Still only 19, Varane is arguably Los Blancos' best centre-back now and he was once again an immovable presence at the back against Barca.

The Frenchman kept tight to his man and never allowed his direct opponent any room to manoeuvre in, and also weighed in with a number of vital blocks and interceptions.

Fabio Coentrao (off 68') - 7

Although he's usually more renowned for his attacking prowess, Coentrao put in a steady if unspectacular shift at left-back for Real, until he was replaced eight minutes after the hour mark.

Pepe - 8

Real coach Jose Mourinho's stroke of genius came with the deployment of Pepe in a holding-midfield role, as the Portuguese hassled the Barca players into giving up possession.

The Portugal international also knew when to concede a foul to break down an impending attack, and was one of Real's best on the day.

Luka Modric - 7.5

Modric has had to spend plenty of this campaign warming the bench, but he was handed a chance to impress on Saturday and looked exactly like the player that convinced Mourinho to hand Tottenham £33million for his services.

The Croat's visionary passing regularly carved the opposition backline open and, in the absence of Xabi Alonso, he delivered a series of dangerous set-piece deliveries, one of which led to Ramos' winner.

Kaka (off 58') - 7

It was strange to see Kaka brought off before the hour mark as he had been one of Real's brightest players up till that point.

Tidy in his distribution, the former Ballon d'Or winner showed a great determination to win the ball as well, something he hasn't been known for in the past.

Jose Maria Callejon - 5

Callejon was extremely disappointing as he failed to offer his side anything down the right, despite lasting the entire 90 minutes.

Alvaro Morata - 8

Thankfully for Los Blancos, they got plenty out from Morata, who is really looking like the real deal.

Blessed with speed and skill, the 20-year-old laid on the assist for Benzema's opener when he bought himself a bit of space against Dani Alves before whipping in a perfect cross that took Victor Valdes out of the equation, leaving his team-mate with the simplest of finishes.

Morata also created a couple of shooting chances for himself and was certainly not lacking in confidence.

Karim Benzema (off 57') - 6.5

Benzema deserves credit for getting into the right position to net Real's opening goal, but he was double-teamed for most of the game and didn't have much of an impact after that.

Subs

Cristiano Ronaldo (on 57') - 7.5

Despite starting on the bench, Ronaldo had a real impact as he made a sparkling cameo appearance, giving Barca, and Dani Alves in particular, real problems.

The 28-year-old was also dangerous as always with his shooting, and stung Valdes' palms, as well as the woodwork, with a couple of ferocious strikes.

Sami Khedira (on 58') - 6.5

Khedira provided a strong physical presence in the hosts' engine room after coming on but was uncharacteristically sloppy with some of his touches.

Alvaro Arbeloa (on 68') - 6

Arbeloa was brought on to give Coentrao a break ahead of Tuesday's Champions League game but didn't really get into the game.

Barcelona

Victor Valdes - 7.5

Valdes was left horribly exposed for Benzema's opener and could do little in the 82nd minute as Ramos placed an excellent header into the top corner of his goal.

Apart from those goals, the Spain international was steady all afternoon long and made a couple of smart saves to deny both Morata and Ronaldo.

However, Valdes then tarnished an otherwise impressive outing by getting sent off after the final whistle for angrily remonstrating with the referee.

Dani Alves - 7

Although the Brazilian was kept busy all game long against Morata and Ronaldo, he did reasonably well and was serviceable both in defence and attack.

It was Alves who provided the killer ball that led to Messi's 18th-minute equaliser.

Gerard Pique - 6

Pique started the game brightly and made a smart challenge to deny Benzema a shooting opportunity early on, but he was slack with his marking and was at fault for both of Real's goals.

First, he allowed Benzema to run free and convert Morata's cross, before losing out to Ramos in the air, allowing his international colleague to head home the winner.

Javier Mascherano - 6.5

Although he didn't fare as badly as his centre-back partner, Mascherano also failed to offer his goalkeeper much protection, and really looks like he would much rather be playing in midfield.

Jordi Alba - 7.5

With Villa failing to fire, much of the drive down the left flank came from Alba, who tirelessly worked up and down his side of the pitch.

The former Valencia star also did well to mark Callejon out of the game.

Sergio Busquets - 7

Busquets performed his usual task of disrupting and breaking down opposition attacks to perfection.

Surprisingly, the defensive midfielder also didn't pick up a yellow card for once.

Thiago Alcantara (off 85') - 5.5

Thiago was one of Barca's more disappointing players on Saturday as he tried to get too cute at times with his touches, and wasted excellent opportunities to get his side on the front foot.

The future still looks bright for the Brazilian-Spanish but he has a lot of maturing to do.

Andres Iniesta - 7

Without his partner-in-crime Xavi alongside him, Iniesta's influence was significantly reduced, although he still threatened Los Blancos on a number of occasions.

David Villa (off 67') - 4

It remains to be seen if Villa will ever return to his best following a wretched run with injuries.

The 31-year-old was almost non-existent down Barca's left on Saturday and the club could just regret their decision to keep him at the club, rather than offload him to potential suitors like Arsenal.

Pedro (off 77') - 6

Like Villa, Pedro failed to have much of an impact in the wide areas for the Catalans, which was a real reason why they were unable to unlock their opponents at the back.

Lionel Messi - 7.5

Messi had a quiet game by his standards but that didn't stop him from having a real impact in the attacking third.

18 minutes in, the Argentine's perfectly-timed run was picked out by Alves, where he then proceeded to cut onto his left foot and drill an effort past Lopez.

As the game wore on, Barca's lack of a cutting edge meant Messi didn't get too many chances but he never stopped trying to create something out of nothing.

Subs

Alexis Sanchez (on 67') - 6

Apart from a neat backheel that released Adriano, who then fell over inside the box, Sanchez didn't exactly do much.

Adriano (on 77') - 6

Adriano came on with 13 minutes to go and struggled to get into the game, apart from the incident where he fell over Ramos' challenge inside the area, only to have his penalty appeal waved away.

Cristian Tello (on 85') - N/A

Tello was thrown on with five minutes remaining in the game and had minimal time to make an impact.