- FC Barcelona drew 2-2 against Real Madrid at Camp Nou
- Lionel Messi scored twice, so did Ronaldo.
FC Barcelona retained their eight point lead against Real Madrid with a 2-2 draw. People were saying that this Clasico should give us the winner of the Balon d'Or, think again. Both Ronaldo and Messi scored twice and that means you will still struggle to pick a winner from them. Unfortunately for us the draw means we will lose our 100% record in the season. Vilanova surprised everyone with his choice of center back. Everyone expected Maschernao to partner Song, but Tito brought in Adriano instead of Song. So we had a defense of Alves, Mascherano, Adriano and Alba. The midfield had Cesc, Xavi and Busquets. Messi, Iniesta and Pedro made the front line. Tito ommitted Tello(a player who has been regular this season) from the squad and the becnh had Pinto, Montoya, Bartra, Song, Sergi Roberto, Alexis and Villa. Real Madrid official line-up had Casillas, Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo and Benzema.
The match opened with both side trying to obtain the supriority in the midfield. In the 13th minute we saw the first sign of Danger when a Ronaldo cross found Benzema totally unmarked in the box, lucky for us - he shot awfully wide. In the 19th minute we saw the real danger of our centra defense when ramos latched onto a corner and once again luckily he missed. In the 21st minute Iniesta had our first shot missing narrowly high. In the 23rd minute we got exposed with Ronaldo scoring after Benzema teed on the left taking Real Madrid 1-0 ahead. In the 25th minute we were exposed completely at back with benzema hitting the post from an open position and Maria wasting the follow up oppurtunity. In the 28th minute Dani Alves once again was injured and was replaced by Montoya. In the 31st minute Messi equalised for us after the Real Madrid failed to clear a cross from Pedro and it fell to Messi who made no mistake putting it into the goal. that was a big mistake from pepe, who jumped a lot earlier and fell to ground exposing the keeper. In the 39th minute Pedro got booked for a raised leg, but it was very unfortunate as he was looking at the ball. The first half ended at 1-1 and that was nice for us after Benzema squandered off a open chance.
The second half saw a frantic opening with both side going at each other. Both side had shouts for soft penalty at each end. In the 61st minute Messi showed why he is the World's Best Player scoring from a free kick from a distance which has become a favorite free kick area, that made it 2-1 for us. That area has become the most critical place where you don't commit a foul against Messi, because of Messi. Mourinho responded by bringing on Higuain for Benzema. In the 64th minute Vilanova took Cesc out and brought in Alexis. In the 66th minute Real Madrid responded through Ronaldo after the defense was split open by a through ball which put Ronaldo one on one at Valdes. That was completely Adriano's fault as he dropped off to play Ronaldo onside. In the 70th minute Alba squared the ball back to Messi inside the box, whose attempt to curl went a bit wide. In the 74th minute Iniesta played a cross across the face of the goal, which was deflected for corner by Marcelo. In the 76th minute Messi won a free kick at the edge of box, but that was hit a bit high over the bar. In the 80th minute Mourinho brought in Kaka for Ozil. In the 86th minute Busquets almost deflect a cross into our box, from the resulting corner Messi almost put Pedro through. In the 88th minute Essien came in for Di Maria. In the 88th minute Montoya hit the bar from a sensational move started by he himself. In the 90th minute Xavi saw his free kick deflected for a corner. In the 93rd minute Iniesta sent in a long cross to Pedro, who cut inside but his shot just went wide of the far post.
In the end little details were the one which decided the fate of this match. details like Benzema missing from an open goal when the score was 1-0 for them and Montoya hitting the bar when the score was 2-2 in the 88th minute. Interestingly the goals we conceded all came from the lack of central defense, actually a lack of defense. Adriano did a decent shift but being the player who has played in Barca for sometime, we expected him to set the offside trap for that second goal. Lionel Messi once again showed why he was the best player oin the World. He was involved in almost everything. Iniesta when he was moved into midfield was brilliant and showed us why Cesc cannot yet replace him fully. Pedro for me the star of the match even though he was a bit subdued in the second half. Busquets had a phenomenal game and really was instrumental in taking up a lot of pressure from our defenders. Considering the fact that we played without a central defender and had to substitute Alves early in game, a 2-2 was a just result.
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