Five things we learned from Barcelona's 3-0 win over bitter rivals Real Madrid

Real Madrid are now surely out of the title race, the club's strikers continue to struggle and Barcelona are increasingly reliant on the outstanding Lionel Messi

​Barcelona moved 14-points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga with a dominant 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabéu.

It was a close first-half but Barcelona eventually took the lead through Luis Suarez, who beat Keylor Navas from close-range.

Barca then doubled their advantage from the spot through Lionel Messi and a late goal from Aleix Vidal made sure of the potentially decisive victory.

Messi celebrates Barcelona's win (Getty)

Here are five things we learned from the match.

Real Madrid out of the title race

There appears to be no chance of Real winning La Liga (Getty)

This heavy 3-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu leaves Barcelona in pole position to win La Liga. They are nine points ahead of Atlético Madrid, 11 ahead of Valencia and 14 ahead of Real Madrid – although Los Blancos have one game in hand.

Is it too soon to write off Real? Perhaps – but Spanish football fans have not seen such a wide gap overhauled in many a year.

So it seems likely that Real have just thrown away a golden opportunity to claw back some points and they will now have to recover mentally if they want to finish in the Champions League positions come the end of the season.

And then there’s February’s Champions League tie with PSG. It won’t be a very happy Christmas in Madrid.

Kovavic successful – in the first-half

Kovacic struggled in the second-half (Getty Images)

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane decided to start with Croatian Mateo Kovacic in the first eleven and his bet was initially successful, but things soured in the second-half.

The decision to leave Isco on the bench was surprising but meant that Real were more solid in the middle, with the extra defensive shield giving both Luka Modric and Toni Kroos to roam forward.

But after the break Barcelona began to dominate possession and ran rings around Kovacic.

Real Madrid have a problem in front of goal

Benzema failed to hit the target (Getty Images)

Real’s strikers are consistently letting them down. They are not finding the goal as often as they should and it is a real problem for the team.

Karim Benzema continues to be wasteful and missed a fine chance in the first-half, as he glanced his header onto Marc-André Ter Stegen’s post. And Cristiano Ronaldo is also struggling and missed a series of sitters.

Ter Stegen deserves some credit but Real have to be scoring more.

So much rests on Messi

Messi remains Barcelona's figurehead (Getty)

In spite of Barcelona’s fine performances this season, the departure of Neymar at the start of the season has shown up a real problem in their team. Aside from Messi – Barcelona really lack players willing to pick up the ball and drive forward.

Possibly only Gerard Deulofeu has this kind of dribbling skills to leave a rival in his wake, with the rest of Barcelona’s players slower and more considered in possession.

The club have so much quality in the middle and have dominated La Liga this season, but this lack of explosive attacking ability could come to haunt them in the later stages of the Champions League. Will they be tempted into a January bargain in an attempt to rectify the problem?

Carvajal red card killed Real’s hopes

Carvajal was sent off in the second-half (AFP/Getty Images)

After Barcelona’s first goal, the sensation in the Santiago Bernabéu was that it had only been because of a mistake, and that Real Madrid could yet still mount one of their famous comebacks.

However, Dani Carvajal’s brainless decision to stop the ball with the hand on the goal line was devastating for his teammates.

One player and two goals down was simply too wide a gap for Real to bridge. The long-awaited introduction of Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio could not improve things and Barcelona deserved their win.