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Real Madrid Are The Victors In El Clasico And Are On Their Way To Being Crowned La Liga Champions As They Defeat Barcelona At The Camp Nou
Real Madrid take a victory in the 164th El
Clasico match, held in the Camp Nou in Barcelona, Northern Spain. After a
nightmarish midweek for both sides, failing to bring home victories in their
Champions League matches, the title decider was bound to be a tense match when
the two Spanish giants clashed in the legendary stadium.
The visitors were quick on the attack, determined to get the
goals they desperately needed if they wished to bring the three points back to
Madrid and secure their spot on top. Barcelona are the nearest competition to
the side from the Spanish capitol, third place Villa Real hold 52 points to the
81 and now 88 points of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Although Puyol and the rest
of the Barcelona defense were reasonably busy in the opening minutes, Victor
Valdes wasn’t very busy. He made a fantastic fingertip save in he opening five
minutes to deny Ronaldo the opening goal when he met a corner kick with a
powerful header but was otherwise not called off of his line. Iker Casillas in
the other goal was much more busy, making save after save as Barcelona managed
to wriggle through his backline.
From the sixth minute on, majority of the possession was in
strong favor of the home side. Barcelona were comfortable passing the ball
around in their half, not appearing to be in a hurry to get the first goal.
Madrid, on the other hand, pressed the Barca backline immediately when a
turnover was created in the midfield. With eight minutes gone, Dani Alves
squeezed through the Real defense enough to be flagged offsides as he chased a
through ball from the midfield. With neither side getting in the strong attacks
that they are used to in the rest of their league play, they began to get
frustrated and choppy, both sides conceding multiple tactical fouls in the
other’s half to keep the ball from crossing the halfway line.
Barcelona were favored to rally to at least hold their hated
rivals to a draw, but Real Madrid were the first ones to get on the scoreline.
In the 14th minute, Sergio saw yellow for his late challenge on
Ronaldo. It was certainly a foul, but the yellow card was harsh. Alonso took
the free kick and the lofty ball was headed out of the danger area by the
Barcelona defense. The corner kick was not well dealt with by the scattered
home side and rather than staying in the hands of Valdes, it fell to the feet
of Sami Khadira. The attacking midfielder made no mistake and put the ball in
the back of the net through the legs of Puyol. Real Madrid had the lead at the
Camp Nou and, as it stood, were on their way to clinching the title.
The home side were desperate for a response and immediately
began applying pressure on the Real Madrid goal. Casillas was called upon on
many occasions. Tello had some good shots for Barcelona, but the Catalonians
were not willing to sacrifice possession for a shot on goal and resorted to
dropping the ball back and rebuilding from Valdes rather than pressing forward.
By the half-hour mark, the possession was nearly split, both sides holding the
ball in their own halves rather than pressing forward. Barcelona began pressing
Real Madrid again with about ten minutes to go before the halftime break but
their efforts were well-absorbed by the Real Madrid defense. Cristiano Ronaldo
and Lionel Messi put on lavish displays of speed and dribbling skills to try
and grab a goal for their teams but their efforts were stopped by the back four
of the opposing side.
At the half, Jose Mourinho’s men had the 1-0 lead thanks to
the scrappy goal from Khedira but they were on their way to a second. Pep
Guardiola’s men had nothing to be ashamed of, for their efforts were forcing
some acrobatic goalkeeping from Valdes and their possession in the Real Madrid
half was impressive. More goals were sure to come in the second half.
In the opening minute of the second half, Real Madrid were
quickly on the attack. They were dispossessed at the top of the Barcelona box
and caught on the counter attack. Barcelona forced a foul from Xabi Alonso and
the Spanish midfielder saw yellow. By the 50th minute, much like the
first half, the attacking evened out as well as the possession, neither side
willing to push too hard for a goal if it meant losing a comfortable amount of
possession in their favor.
As the clock ticked on, Barcelona knew they needed a goal.
Tello was in rare form, sending the majority of his shots far and wide and
shooting what could be the worst miss of the entire season when he found
himself unmarked about a yard away from the goal. Valdes was slow coming off
his line, but Tello went to one touch the cross rather than settling it,
sending the ball flying more vertical that horizontal and well over the
crossbar. Both sides racked up a significant number of offside calls, trying to
catch the other on the counter attack but in the end, they resorted to their
through ball method, often timing their runs poorly. The game lacked the
exciting creativity often associated with the two teams and they began to grow
frustrated. In the 67th minute, Xavi fired a long range shot but it
went wide. He then made way for the young Chilean striker, Alexis Sanchez as
Guardiola attempted to bulk up his attack to get a goal. It proved to be his
best move of the match. In the 70th minute, the little Chilean put
Barcelona level thanks to some brilliant playing from Iniesta and a little bit
of luck with the finish. Tello settled a long, sweeping cross from Andres
Inesta in the midfield, putting it into the box where Sanchez’s initial effort
was saved by Casillas. Luckily, a trailing leg from the substitute striker
meant that Casillas’ follow-up save bounced off of his ankle and into the back
of the net.
Barcelona were level, but Cristiano Ronaldo was not about to
let the title go that easily. Just two minutes later, he made a fantastic run
onto a long ball from Coentrao, collecting it in his stride, leaving the
Barcelona defenders in the dust and putting a hard but well-placed shot past
Valdes.
The remainder of the match can be described as so: desperate
and possessive play from Barcelona and scrappy, defensive play from Real
Madrid. Barcelona pushed hard for an equalizer as they were fueled by the screams
from the home fans, but the visitors were too disciplined in the back and they
were unable to get another goal. Real Madrid’s desperate defense got a few of
their men booked, but in the end no harm was done and when the final whistle
sounded, Real Madrid celebrated being six points clear at the top of the table
on the pitch of their most hated rival.
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