After losing 5-0 in November against their arch rivals Barcelona, capital club Real Madrid had more than victory on their mind. They wanted to win the game and put the same hurt onto the Catalans that they felt some five months ago. However the game did not end the way they had hoped for.
Real Madrid started out very brightly finding more chances to score in the first half of this game then they did during the entire match at the Camp Nou back in November. Angel Di Maria shot over and around the ball while Christiano Ronaldo saw his free kick hit the bottom left post narrowly missing his team's opening goal.
Barcelona dominated in possession but had a tough time finding chances with their best one coming from Messi after a brilliant give and go he received the ball in the box and shot the ball with three defenders covering him at once only to see his shot deflected away form goal by Real keeper Ilker Casillas.
The home side had five first half corners as opposed to their rivals who had none. The final corner kick could have easily been converted to goal when Di Maria tok the corner and Sergio Ramos headed it towards a wide open Christiano Ronaldo who watched his header get cleared off the line by Barca left back Adriano. The first half ended 0-0
The second half started out as a nightmare for Real as center back Raul Albiol deliberately fouled Barca striker David Villa in the box and the outcome was a penalty kick awarded to the visitors. Not only did Lionel Messi convert the penalty kick into goal but culprit Raul Albiol saw a direct red card ejecting him from the game. Real Madrid now had a tall mountain to climb.
Mesut Ozil who usually starts for Real began the game on the bench. However when he came on as a sub, he certainly lit up the stadium with his brilliant play.
First he sent a long ball all the way to the left side of the eighteen yard box which was controlled by Ronaldo who then lobbed the ball to a wide open Emmanuel Adebayor who could only head the ball behind him to a Barcelona defender.
Ozil kept the ball at his feet avoiding challenges from the likes of Xavi Hernandez, Seydou Keita, and Andres Iniesta.
The golden chance arrived for Real Madrid when Marcelo was brought down in the box by Brazilian and Barca right back Dani Alves. A penalty kick was awarded for the home side.
Christiano Ronaldo was looking to score his first goal ever against Barcelona as a Madrid player and he did as he kicked the ball into the upper right side of the goal with Valdez diving the other way. 1-1
Being down to ten men did not seem to bother Madrid after Mesut Ozil came on. The reason Ozil was sacrificed for this game is Madrid coach Jose Mourinho opting to start Pepe as a defensive midfielder in front of a four man defense so he could assist at keeping the Barcelona attack at bay.
A 1-1 draw is not a bad draw for Barcelona as they still hold an 8 point lead over second placed Madrid with six games left to play. Of those six games, Madrid still have to travel to Valencia, Villareal, and Sevilla. If Madrid are victorious in the rest of their games, they will hope that Barca lose three of their last six games so they could become the La Liga champions. If that does not work out, Madrid still have three more games left against their arch rivals with the first of the three coming this Wednesday in the Spanish Copa Del Rey (King's Cup) finale. The Tuesday after that, they will meet in the first leg of the Champions League Semi-Final. Then the following Wednesday they will meet in the return leg.
Today was the first of four meetings between these two heated sides. Real Madrid will look to win either or both of those competitions and in order to do that, they have to defeat their arch rivals and there is no better way to accomplish that goal.
If Madrid eliminate Barca in the Champions League, they will play Schalke 04 or Manchester United in the finale. If they are to play Schalke, they will reunite with long time Madridista Raul Gonzalez who left the Spanish giants to join the German this past summer.
Being that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the top two teams in the league and the finalists for the Copa Del Rey, we are already guaranteed to watch four "El Clasico's" between them next season as they will have two league meetings as usual and a two legged tie to contest for the Spanish Super Cup. But before we get there, we still have three mouth watering match ups between the two to look forward to.
As we witnessed today, when these two sides meet regardless of the region, they put on an unforgettable show for the fans to enjoy and savor forever. Tune in to enjoy some of the World's best Soccer between two of the World's best sides.
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