Barcelona celebrate their 110th birthday in style by taking down Real Madrid with a lone goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to win the 159th edition of the clásico and take back first place.
Barcelona entered the match with a depleted squad and were hurt by their toothless front line of Iniesta, Henry and Messi, who had trouble linking up. Madrid controlled the first half and would have likely taken the lead without two great saves from Valdes.
In the second half Barcelona took control of the match, subbing out an invisible Henry in the 50th minute for Ibrahimovic, who quickly made his mark on his first clásico by scoring on a perfect cross from Alves, who would go on to create other chances later on including a Messi 1 on 1 that was shot too early.
Madrid was given a lifeline when Busquets got himself unnecessarily sent off in the 65h minute with a handball but Madrid failed to convert the advantage, with captain Puyol making vital tackles throughout the match to ensure celebration in the streets of Catalonia tonight as Barcelona reclaim first place.
The match concluded with Lassana Diarra sent off in the last minute.
Barça have confirmed that Eric Abidal has contracted swine flu whilst midfielder Yaya Touré is having tests for the illness having shown symptoms of the virus. 