Dani Carvajal was the standout performer in Real Madrid's battling victory over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga on Sunday night.
In Los Blancos' 2-0 win, Madrid were a million miles from their uncultured performance against Manchester City in midweek and restricted the likes of Lionel Messi to difficult chances and, most pertinently, dispossessed him on numerous occasions.
⭐ Clasico Ratings: Carvajal stars, Semedo struggles
Carvajal was key to this; after an altercation with Jordi Alba early on which saw both men booked, Dani may have been under pressure, knowing that one mistake could have led to a red card with notoriously strict referee Mateu Lahoz.
But instead he became one of Madrid's driving forces; he won all four of his tackles, and 6/9 of his duels, while his eight recoveries were the second-most in the contest.
| Name | Age | Rating | ||||
| 1 |  | Dani Carvajal |  | 28 | 8.6 | |
| 2 |  | Toni Kroos | | 30 | 8.1 | |
| 3 |  | Casemiro | | 28 | 7.9 | |
| 4 |  | Thibaut Courtois | | 28 | 7.7 | |
| 5 |  | Marcelo | | 32 | 7.6 |
He dealt with the aggression of Arturo Vidal, he nullified Antoine Griezmann dropping wide and the aforementioned Alba barely mentioned it into his territory.
Defensively Madrid were universally excellent, even Marcelo, who seemed to be seeing the last days of his career in the capital, but his performance was represented by a brilliant last-ditch tackle on Lionel Messi as he ran in on goal.
Madrid seemed to have a collective desire to put right some wrongs here, and while they still lack inventiveness in attack and the ability to create clear chances for the frustrated Karim Benzema, there was a togetherness spearheaded by Zinedine Zidane was the key factor in what was two teams lacking in confidence.
Dani Carvajal was the central facet of the victory as a result.
CARVAJAL KEY STATS
Table
| Statistic | # | Rank |
| Tackles Won | 4 | P1 |
| Duels Won | 6 | P2 |
| Touches | 77 | P3 |
| Recoveries | 8 | P2 |
| Crosses | 4 | P4 |
Barcelona 
