Super-sub seals it

I made a note of the exact minute - the 84th to be precise, when Leo Messi went haring down the left with the ball, presumably aiming for the corner-flag area where he could keep possession and waste a bit of precious time. Suddenly, Raúl appeared, tackled him then took the ball around the Argentine, only to run into Carles Puyol, who clouted into him and put the ball out for a throw in. Before you could say 'What's Raúl doing back there?' you were then faced with the same question regarding Puyol.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates his goal

It was that sort of game - basically an open clásico, with two sides determined to win. Thank heaven it's over now, and we can all go back to our daily round and common task, but something is right with the world when this ceaselessly hyped event actually turns out to be a decent game. It hasn't always been the case down the years, despite last season's spectacular in the Bernabéu. Many duels between these two sides have been characterised by the obvious desire not to lose, but here, at this stage of the season, Real Madrid particularly sensed that a win could suddenly begin to tip the scales, and played accordingly.

The 4-2-3-1 formation was a line-up with attacking intent, which defensively speaking was asking a lot of little Lass, particularly given Xabi Alonso's relative slowness on the back foot and the notoriety of Barça's midfield speed. In the event, Madrid worked hard at keeping possession, and with Ronaldo lurking out left there were always options for Alonso to play short or long.

Barça started well, as they are wont to do these days, but the combined pace and movement of Higuaín and Ronaldo unsettled the hosts, with Kaká floating dangerously in the holes behind. Ronaldo should really have scored, when Kaká's pass across the area left him with plenty of time to beat an exposed Valdés. The bar in which I watched the game snapped silent, like the moment before the tsunami hits, only to explode with relief as Ronaldo's shot was too predictable, bouncing off Valdés' leg to safety. Sympathy runs deeper for the Catalans up here in the Basque Country, and the packed bar was rooting for Barcelona, but in a fairly quiet and nervous way - reasonable proof that Real Madrid were playing well.

My mate Keith, an Oldham Athletic fan, had just flown in from Bulgaria and on entering the bar asked the rather naïve question 'So who are we rooting for?' to which I replied 'Barça of course, because any other action will see you lynched'. Nevertheless, two Madrid fans, a father and son, were sitting to my right and making only a half secret of their allegiance. After twitching forward silently then slumping back into their chairs when Ronaldo missed, they found it more difficult to contain themselves a few minutes later when Marcelo should really have shot more quickly, only to be eventually blocked by the excellent Puyol, Barcelona's best player on the night. 'Me cago en el mar!' (I crap in the sea!) exclaimed the non-ecological father, as if he were tired of concealing his colours. The rest of the barflies looked his way, but he'd made his declaration and spent the rest of the game crapping in various other contexts, most of which were fairly X-rated.

The Ronaldo action was repeated in fearful symmetry in the second half when Messi should also have scored, but Casillas' leg got in the way. However, had Madrid taken advantage of their tendency this season to squeeze the maximum from their chances, Barça might not have been in a position to come back, especially after the sending off of Busquets. And the solitary goal? It was a reminder of the importance of what physics refers to as opposing forces. Barça were great before the arrival of Dani Alves, but have been even greater since his transfer from Sevilla. The only way to stop him from marauding down the right-hand side and swinging over his lethal crosses is to occupy him defensively, which is precisely what the mere presence of Ronaldo achieved. It was significant that as the Portuguese player inevitably tired, after such a long lay-off, Alves set off down the right and knocked over a cross which Ibrahimovic, just on for Henry, volleyed neatly into the net. Where was Sergio Ramos? Good question, asked Pepe, who was nevertheless guilty of ball-watching, not for the first time in the match.

To conclude, the game was a testament to the rude health of the Spanish scene, as 2009 begins to draw to a close. The coming-together of so many top players under the Catalan sky was a culmination of the global game's recent history, shaped by events and decisions not always planned or foreseen, but leading inevitably to the return of La Liga to the top rung of football's ladder. No other fixture in the world today could attract so much attention from a purely footballing point of view. El clásico always attracts attention, the entire world sporting press and most of its cameras, but rarely has the fixture been able to present such a large percentage of the world's top players on one pitch - with Ibrahimovic on the bench to boot.

My son, developing nicely as a player but still unable to open the trickier curtains of football analysis, has the annoying tendency to ask me, when a match is on the TV, questions like 'Dad - is Gerrard top ten?' or 'Is Iniesta in the top three?', as if footballers could be judged on a strictly numerical basis, from one to six hundred, like the ATP rankings. It may be possible, I tell him, to argue the case for one player being better than the rest, and perhaps for two players (such as Ronaldo and Messi) to go head-to-head in a battle of public analysis, but after that it stops.

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Marcelo takes aim at the Nou Camp

Why? Because it's not a question of one player being 'better' than another, but rather that one player can be judged the best of his type - another perspective altogether. When Wayne Rooney declared that Andres Iniesta was the best in the world, what he might have said, if he'd been given time and space to think more about that statement, was that Iniesta was the best 'floater' in the world, a player whose constant switches of position and pace make him almost impossible to counter. But the best player in the world? I don't think so.

Nevertheless, within this more flexible framework you could start to compile a frightening list of 'best of his type' players from this weekend's clásico. Xavi Hernandez is the best static pivot, Xabi Alonso is probably the best deep-lying distributor. Casillas is probably the best goalkeeper, to deal with a simpler category, and Alves the best attacking full-back. Piqué is turning into one of the best ball-playing centre-backs, and Kaká, on his day, is surely the world's supreme media punta, the guy in the 'hole'. And so it goes on.

There was life, however, in the corners of some other Spanish fields. Oddly enough, Sevilla blew the chance to garner the same points as one of the losers in the clásico, by drawing unexpectedly at home to bottom-placed Málaga - a truly quiniela-busting result. Then again, Málaga must enjoy the relatively short trip to Seville, since they've only lost once there on their last eight visits, which is extraordinary. I watched the game, live on Saturday night's La Sexta game, and even though Sevilla were 0-2 down at half-time you got the impression that they would claw their way back. They didn't play badly at all, but were simply guilty of some lapses in concentration, fully exploited by the visitors. There's little reason to see it as anything other than a blip.

In Madrid, Espanyol became the only side this season who have failed to score against Atlético Madrid's famously wimpish defence, and were sent home to Barcelona with their tails between their legs. The 4-0 win for Atlético may serve to kick-start their season, as long as the two goals from Agüero do not serve as a further temptation for Mr Abramovich to loosen his New Year purse strings, or so the rumour goes.

Deportivo continued their unexpected rise thorough the rankings, winning 1-0 at Racing Santander where, like Málaga in Seville they tend to plunder and pillage on an annual basis. Racing have now failed to win at home since last May, and appear to be in freefall, sans parachute.

In the Second Division, Real Sociedad drew 3-3 at Rayo Vallecano in a game of impressive quality, and one which spoke volumes for the competitive nature of the second tier this season. The top three sides are now all level-pegging on 26 points, but at least seven other well-equipped sides are within feasible striking distance. If you get the chance, take a look at Néstor Susaeta's opening goal
for Rayo against Sociedad. You won't see a better goal all season, and is the best strike I've seen since Valencia's Gaizka Mendieta launched a similar nuclear missile in the Camp Nou back in the mists of time.

Next week, Barça face a tricky trip to in-form Deportivo, whilst Real Madrid and Sevilla have potentially more winnable games. Should be interesting. You never know, it might even be the sort of weekend which enables Eduardo to improve on that first score of four over ten in his first quiniela, followed by a 50 percent decline this weekend to two over ten. The bottle's a fifth full and the only way is arriba. Animo Eduardo!