It was billed as the encounter Madrid would overcome Barcelona and go for broke in the Champions League. Having fought out a 1-1 draw in La Liga, Madrid took the accolades in the Copa Del Rey as a Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the win for the Spanish capital club, albeit only for a matter of hours before the historic trophy was dropped by Sergio Ramos and ran over by the open-top bus.
However, their Champions League 1st leg tie at the Bernabeu didn't go to plan as expected from Jose Mourinho and his backroom staff. For the first hour, their game plan was working perfectly. Stifling Barcelona and not allowing the Catalan outfit to play the football that has made them the best team in the world. However, it was on the hour mark that the game changed for the better in regards to football. Pepe, the man charged with keeping Lionel Messi quiet, was sent off for, perhaps harshly, for a foul on Dani Alves.
Many are claiming the foul warranted a booking at most, none more so than Mourinho who openly questioned the decision made by Wolfgang Stark and was abruptly sent to the stands as a result. However, the actions of the Barcelona players, Dani Alves in particular, that has got the Madrid faithful, and a mass number of tweeters and bloggers, up in arms. The likes of Pedro, who was on the receiving end of a Rio Ferdinand tweet where the former England captain proclaimed "This diving is a joke/embarrassing. When Pedro watches that do you think he'll think 'What am I doing!?' Rugby players must laugh at football", Sergio Busquets, who will forever be remembered for his feeble play-acting in the Thiago Motta red at the same stage last season, and Alves who spent more time on the floor clutching his ankle/knee/face than he did terrorising the Madrid back line.
However, to claim that it's a double edged sword would be a complete understatement. Madrid have their abundance of grass lovers in the form of Angel Di Maria, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo. Yet, none aided in the sending off of an opposition player much the same way the Barca players for Pepe's red for a foul on, none other than, Alves. Up until that point, the game hadn't been the classic many sceptics had been hoping for and it appeared Madrid who were more likely to make the break through.
Yet, it was a classic moment that, near enough, settled the tie barring a minor miracle or complete collapse by Barcelona. Messi had already capitalised on the numerical advantage by scoring his 51st goal of the season and with three minutes remaining on the clock, it was another moment of magic from the Harry Houdini of football as he accelerated past three Madrid players in their half, skipped past a further two and rolled the ball past the oncoming Iker Casillas into the far corner making it goal number 52 of an already phenomenal season. Unless you're a Madrid fan, it was a superb moment that overshadowed the play acting, imaginary card waving, injury feigning....the list goes on.
As for the war of words, well that continued well beyond the 90 minutes. Mourinho and Ronaldo have both heavily criticised the decisions of the officials that have taken charge of Barcelona semi-finals the past three years. With two controversial red cards, as mentioned above, and numerous stone-wall penalties waved away at Stamford Bridge in 2009, the Madrid coach has asked the following question; Should Pep Guardiola be proud of himself for winning the trophy in 2009 in such circumstances?
The Catalan club are, unsurprisingly, investigating the post-match comments made by Mourinho and are considering taking action against their bitter rivals if the opportunity should present itself. To be fair to Mourinho, he has a point in his words. Granted he went about it the wrong way but he has highlighted a key factor in today's modern game. Players in last night’s game spent more time on the floor clutching any area of themselves that would make the ref stand up and take notice than they did actually playing the game. Ronaldo, of all players, moved swiftly to echo the sentiments of his coach following the defeat to Barcelona who, like Mourinho, heavily criticised the man charged with controlling the match from the middle.
From the Barcelona corner, it was local hero Xavi who has most recently taken to attacking the tactics of Madrid and proclaiming last night’s victory was a win for football. You would be hard pushed to find a football fan to disagree with Xavi as Madrid looked to contain their opponents rather than attack them and risk another 5-0 hammering.
Nevertheless, we can all expect another fiery encounter for the final El Clasico next week. Whether or not Madrid go for the jugular remains to be seen but without Pepe and Sergio Ramos available, while welcoming Ricardo Carvalho back to the starting XI, will surely hinder them defensively.
As for Barcelona, it will be business as usual at the Nou Camp and while a repeat of November's game may not be on the cards, you can full expect them to make the final push to Wembley and secure the win over their rivals and meet either FC Schalke 04 or Manchester United, most likely the latter after their own 2-0 win on Tuesday night, in the final.
Anyway, I got to go.
Laters,
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