Messi & Neymar v Ronaldo & Bale: Who delivered the knockout blow?

Messi & Neymar v Ronaldo & Bale: Who delivered the knockout blow?

Goal presents a boxing-style head-to-head battle between the Clasico's four biggest names: Lionel Messi and Neymar of Barcelona, and Real Madrid duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Saturday evening's Liga showdown at Camp Nou, which finished 2-1 in favour of the Blaugrana, saw four of the biggest names in world football face off. Who came out on top?

Here's a explanation of how the players are scored:

• If there is little to separate the players in a round they will be scored 10-10. A narrow win in a round, where there are no goals in the match involving the quartet, will produce a 10-9. If Messi or Neymar score a goal in a round, and Ronaldo and Bale do not, the South American pair will win that round 10-8. If the Blaugrana duo score twice, and their Blancos counterparts do not, Messi and Neymar will win 10-7.

• The same system is used for assists and for winning a penalty. So, if, in a round, Bale creates a goal and wins a penalty (without taking the penalty), while neither Messi nor Neymar do anything of note, Bale and Ronaldo win that round 10-7.

• A yellow card results in a one-point deduction. A dive in the penalty area or just outside that is penalised by the referee will lose a player a point, too.

• At least one of the two pairings will always be awarded a 10 for a round unless all four get booked in the same round, which will result in a 9-9.

Please recognise that these values are different to Goal's Player Ratings and designed to reflect the combat-style judging of a boxing bout. 

Let's go! 

ROUND BY ROUND

4': Neymar is hit by an effort from Cesc Fabregas while stood in an offside position. 11': SHOT - Neymar and Messi are involved in the best passage of play of the game so far, but the latter's shot is blocked. 14': Neymar is flattened for the second time in a minute by Ramos.	10	0-15  mins	10	7': Ronaldo, who is chosen to lead the line ahead of Karim Benzema, drops deep and draws a foul from Pique. 15': The hitherto anonymous Bale gets his first touch on the ball, firing high over the bar moments after Ronaldo takes a minor knock that leaves him grimacing with pain.
17': SHOT - Neymar creates some space for himself on the edge of the area but his strike is easily saved. 19': GOAL - Iniesta feeds Neymar, who cuts onto his right foot before netting with a low, deflected strike into the bottom right corner. 21': SHOT - Messi, who is playing on the right, is put in on goal by Iniesta but the Argentine sidefoots wide.	10	16-30  mins	8	16': Bale attempts to nod the ball across the face of the Barca six-yard box but his knockdown is cleared. 24': Bale takes on a couple of players but eventually runs into trouble and is lucky to retain possession. 26': SHOT - Bale surges past Pique but the Welshman then slices his shot wide.
33': Messi gives away a free kick for a clumsy challenge on Marcelo. 37': Messi looks to put Neymar through with a diagonal pass but the Brazilian appears to be taken out off the ball. Nothing given, though. 42': Messi wins a free kick wide on the right but his subsequent strike is blocked.	10	31-45  mins	9	35': Ronaldo is chopped down by Adriano, who is booked, after receiving a 'hospital pass' from Bale. 39': After drifting out to the left wing, Ronaldo goes by Dani Alves and picks out Sami Khedira with a terrific cross, but the German's attempt is brilliantly saved by Victor Valdes. 45': CARD - Bale is booked for a high tackle on Pique.
	30	HT	27
52': Neymar and Messi create a chance for Fabregas, who looks to have been fouled in the area by Pepe. Referee decides otherwise. 53': Neymar flies past Daniel Carvajal once again but there's no-one in the box, so his cut-back is easily cleared. 55': SHOT - Neymar gets away from Varane to latch onto a long ball but his volley is saved by Diego Alves.	10	46-60 mins	10	50': Ronaldo steps nicely inside Dani Alves but then backheels the ball straight out of play. 53': PASS - Ronaldo releases Khedira into the area and Bale manages to get on the end of the German's cross but he's unable to pick anyone out with his header. 58': SHOT - Ronaldo is put through by Modric but his low strike is brilliantly saved by Victor Valdes.
64': Messi comes back to life to steal the ball away from Marcelo, who then goes into the book for pulling the No.10 back. 68': Messi accelerates away from Pepe but ignores the run of Neymar ahead of him. 75': PASS - Neymar tees up Iniesta, whose shot is deflected wide.	9	61-75 mins	10	61': SUB - The desperately ineffective Bale is unsurprisingly replaced by Benzema, whose introduction results in Ronaldo reverting to the wing, sparking an improvement in Madrid's fortunes. 66': Ronaldo is furious after being denied a penalty when it seemed as if he'd been clearly barged over in the area by Mascherano.
79': PASS - Neymar puts Alexis Sanchez away and the Chilean doubles Barca's advantage with a sublime chip. 84': SUB - Neymar exits to a deserved standing ovation after a goal and an assist in his firstClasico. 93': Messi, who lost the ball in the build-up to Jese's goal, skips past a couple of players before setting up Dani Alves - but the Brazilian's shot is blocked.	10	76-90 mins	9	80': CARD - Ronaldo, clearly still enraged by the penalty decision, is booked for dissent just seconds after Barca go 2-0 up. 83: More frustration for Ronaldo as he suffers the ignominy of being nutmegged by Dani Alves. 91': PASS - Some joy at last for Ronaldo as he releases Jese, who pulls a goal back for Madrid.

59

TOTAL

56