The defeat left them in second place just a point behind behind Real but with their Madrid rivals still to play its one game in hand.

Much of the talk before this weekend’s round of fixtures surrounded the effectiveness of MSN versus BBC; acronyms for the players that have been pivotal in attack for Barcelona and Real Madrid this season.

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“They let us use the ball out wide and we tried, but the final ball wasn’t there and we didn’t create clear cut chances.”

Real Madrid can go four points clear of Barcelona on Sunday when they play Elche.