The first leg of the Copa Del Rey Quarter-final came and went in similar fashion with the visiting side, Barcelona, winning yet again on Real Madrid’s historic ground, the Santiago Bernabeu.
The home side started out quickly with an 11th minute bullet from Ronaldo sliding through Barca keeper Pinto’s legs to take the lead.
Barca almost immediately respond when Cesc Fabregas sent a cross to the running Alexis Sanchez whose glancing header hits the post.
The Blaugrana would create two more quality chances in the first half with Iniesta and Messi both sending darts towards the near post only to be parried away by Spain and Real’s number 1, Iker Casillas.
In the 49th minute, Carles Puyol dives past Pepe with his head to send the ball into the bottom left corner past a helpless Casillas to grab the equalizer.
Barca would continue to pressure the hosts with a flurry of chances until finally Messi sent a lob inside the box to a wide open Eric Abidal who calmly slotted home the winner 18 minutes from time.
Real Madrid almost responded a few minutes later through Cristiano Ronaldo but his shot was blocked by the brick wall in Barca’s defense.
The visitors capped their performance with a 2-1 advantage heading into next Wednesday’s rematch which is the second leg of this quarter-final clash.
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