Should Pep Guardiola have happened to find himself in front of a television on Sunday night, he might have been drowned by a wave of nostalgia. A few hours after his lukewarm Manchester City team had unravelled at Wembley, a spectacular clásico was about to reach a stunning conclusion at the Bernabéu. The 10 men of Real Madrid had fought back from the dead to equalise with five minutes left and they were seconds away from all but ending Barcelona’s title hopes. They just had to resist one final, desperate attack. In fact, it was simpler than that. They just had to keep the ball away from Lionel Messi.
We all know what happened next. Sergi Roberto won possession deep in Barcelona’s half and the right-back ran and ran before moving the ball to André Gomes. Jordi Alba overlapped on the left and pulled the ball back and if his pass had found any other player, the game probably would have finished 2-2. Instead it found Messi. In a split second, the narrative had changed dramatically. The story was no longer about yet another Madrid comeback. Barcelona ended the night top of La Liga and while the goal owed plenty to Sergi Roberto’s surge, Gomes’s composure and Alba’s assist, only one player could have delivered the killer blow so nervelessly.
Related: Imperial age of Manchester City yet to dawn despite Pep Guardiola’s arrival | Paul Doyle
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