Barcelona Kept Real Madrid out at the Bernabeu

It's fair to say that Thomas Vermaelen's Barcelona career hasn't been the roaring success that he had hoped, but circumstances have earned him a recall to the team and he has yet to taste defeat in LaLiga with the Blaugrana.

Over the course of his time in Catalonia, the former Arsenal defender has played just 16 matches in LaLiga, but he hasn't lost any of those fixtures.

Samuel Umtiti's injury created a problem for Ernesto Valverde, with Vermaelen called in from the cold.

Since then, he has performed admirably, including at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

In his debut season in Spain he played just one league match, before a loan to Roma was a mixed success, with it widely expected that he would be sold in the summer.

As the Neymar situation unfolded, all other matters were put to one side at the Camp Nou during the summer and Los Cules couldn't find a sensible buyer for Vermaelen, meaning he was retained as a backup defender.

A lack of match rhythm hasn't negatively impacted him and, for a player who has endured such struggles with injuries over the course of his career, the former Ajax defender has surprised everyone with his stability this term.

With Javier Mascherano set to leave the club in the January transfer window, a replacement will likely be signed in the winter.

However, there is now less cause for concern within the club's hierarchy, with Vermaelen seen as a reliable rotation option until the end of the season.