El Classico: Barcelona Hold Real Madrid To Goalless Draw

Barcelona and Real Madrid could not be separated on Wednesday in a Clasico that was briefly interrupted by Catalan independence protests when dozens of yellow beach balls were thrown onto the pitch at Camp Nou. 

After being postponed in October, there were renewed fears of unrest around Spain’s most famous fixture.

Protestors held banners, waved flags and even threw inflatable beach balls.

However, although serious disruption inside the ground never materialised, there were clashes outside.

Twelve people were injured when police charged hundreds of masked protesters who set garbage bins on fire, according to emergency services.

The protesters, many of them carrying Catalan separatist flags, began setting up barricades in the middle of the street which they then set on fire after police arrived in dozens of police vans.

The match was less eventful than expected, with neither side ever really at their best and both, perhaps in the end, happier not to win than to lose.

A goalless draw means Barcelona stay top of La Liga, ahead of Real on goal difference while the historic score in league meetings between the two rivals remains 72 victories apiece.

Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos both made clearances off the line in the first half but the best chance arguably fell to Lionel Messi, only for the Argentinian to uncharacteristically scuff his finish.

“More than a Clasico”, read the front page of Barcelona daily Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday morning ahead of a fixture that while always politically charged, had assumed even greater significance than usual.

The game was originally due to be played on October 26 and the 53 days since seemed only to swell expectations around what Democratic Tsunami, the Catalan independence protest group, might do to disturb the most-watched club match in the world.

Yet in truth, there was less than expected.

Only in the 55th minute of the second half was the game paused for a minute as stewards ran on to collect dozens of yellow beach balls that had been thrown onto the pitch.