La Liga’s top two went into the contest level on points this season and with 72 wins each from previous league meetings, and there was nothing to separate them in a tense clash in Catalonia. The match was rearranged from October after the initial date became a security risk due to the prospect of Catalan independence protests, and there were fans inside and outside the stadium making their voices heard over one of Spain’s most divisive issues. 1 1074906 The action on the pitch was a little less fraught, Bale’s second-half strike – ruled out for offside – representing the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock. Madrid controlled the early exchanges and only Gerard Pique’s timely intervention on the line denied Casemiro an opening goal with a header. Marc-Andre ter Stegen beat away another Casemiro effort after Madrid had penalty shouts waved away following a shirt pull on Raphael Varane, who had earlier squared up to Jordi Alba. Thibaut Courtois went untested until the half-hour mark, when he palmed away a teasing Alba cross and the covering Sergio Ramos cleared Lionel Messi’s rebound from in front of goal. Alba had a golden chance to snatch the lead before…