'Clasico' comes too soon for Suarez

It was the question on everyone's lips in the run-up to the 'Clásico' at the Bernabéu. "Will Luis Suárez play?" wondered all the Real Madrid and Barcelona fans.

Luis Enrique revealed that he would, but few people imagined that he would start. He played for 70 minutes, and it was clear that the game came too soon for him.

Nevertheless, the Uruguayan did start well. Enrique deployed Lionel Messi in a deeper role and Suárez had total freedom to move across the front line. With Neymar out on the left, Suárez was tasked with drawing the centre-backs out of position.

But after a promising start, his presence gradually faded as the game wore on. More or less the same thing occurred to the Barcelona side as a whole at the Bernabéu. Suárez switched play superbly for the Neymar goal and provided Messi with the chance to kill off the game in the first half, but Iker Casillas was having none of it.

After that, the former Liverpool player produced little more than a brief foray into the Real Madrid area when he lost the ball to Sergio Ramos.

Suárez demonstrated enthusiasm and showed signs of what is to come, but he clearly lacked some spark after his long shift on the sidelines. The Uruguayan star did not disappoint, but he is still a long way off his best and showed a distinct lack of rhythm. This was just a first taste on a day when Barcelona lacked their usual voracity.