For all the talk about Lionel Messi returning for this Real Madrid vs Barcelona El Clasico, the little magician wasn't even a factor as Neymar and Luis Suarez, the S and N of the MSN trio, absolutely cut Real apart in an utterly dominating derby for Barca.
From minute one, Barcelona ran the show, and that too at the Bernabeu, with the home team unable to produce anything remotely resembling quality for the entire 90 minutes.
At the end of the day, Neymar, Suarez, Andres Iniesta and the rest of the Barcelona bandwagon were just too good, too irresistible, too quick and too classy.
The opening goal went to Suarez, who slotted home beautifully with the outside of his right foot after taking a nice through ball from Sergi Roberto.
Real Madrid were chasing shadows really for much of the game, particularly in the first half, with Barcelona looking like they could open that Real Madrid defence up anytime they wanted.
The second time that rather brittle door opened was on 38 minutes, and it was the in-form player who made it 2-0 for Barcelona. Iniesta was the creator, playing a wonderful dink through ball to Neymar, who made absolutely no mistake with the finish, forcing the ball past Keylor Navas.
It could and would have been 3-0 on halftime, had it not been for a brilliant goalline clearance from Marcelo to deny Suarez, who looked destined to score.
Real Madrid, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez – only James among them looked up for the game -- all in the lineup, showed some fight in the first five minutes of the second half, but once Barcelona thwarted that attacking wave, it was back to let's-score-a-goal-when-we-want time again.
The third and the-match-is-definitely-over-now goal came on 52 minutes, with Iniesta running onto a delightful backheel from Neymar to slam the ball into the roof of the net.
It was take-your-pick time now for Barcelona, and Real Madrid's night only worsened when Luis Enrique sent on Lionel Messi with the away team in cruise control. Messi nearly scored his usually-customary El Clasico goal as well, with only a good block preventing that from happening.
However, Suarez would not be denied his brace, as the Uruguayan, who should have won a clear-cut penalty a little earlier when Sergio Ramos brought him down, ran through on goal, waited for Keylor Navas, who was actually outstanding on the night, to make his move, before applying the assured finish to hammer another nail in the coffin.
The final nail fell on 84 minutes, when Isco was shown a red card for kicking out at Neymar, who had frustrated, irritated and utterly beguiled Real Madrid all night.
