Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Five talking points

Real Madrid put on an emphatic performance at the Camp Nou yesterday night to progress to the Copa del Rey final with a 3 – 1 win over Barcelona. It was an exciting match from start to finish, with end to end action and plenty of good football on display. Of course, as is often seen in Clasicos, there was a fair share of drama and unsavoury moments as well, but with Ronaldo and Di Maria absolutely unstoppable, the game will be remembered for all the right reasons. Here are five highlights from the fixture.

The Ronaldo penalty

The first goal of the game came inside a quarter of an hour from the start, and was from a perfectly legitimate penalty won and finished by Cristiano Ronaldo. It was an occasion on which Gerard Pique could have done a million times better than to pretend to be innocent and laugh disbelievingly at the referee, as it was his tackle in the box which led to the awarding of a spot-kick. In fact, Pique could have stopped Ronaldo much earlier, or shown him away from his direct path towards goal, having tracked him all the way from the halfway line. Yet, the backing off lasted too long from the Spaniard, and let the Portuguese star coolly slot home the ball into the bottom left corner of Pinto’s goal.

The Varane header

For a moment, everyone present, except the pair of players themselves, of course, must have confused Raphael Varane for Ronaldo. Such was the quality of the central defender’s header, and the fashion of it which was comparable to the ‘hang time’ that Ronaldo achieves with his leaps. Towering well above his marker with a fantastic leap, Varane headed home via the underside of the cross bar for Madrid’s third goal of the night; one which effectively put the game to bed.

Ronaldo’s second goal

In between the aforementioned goals, Ronaldo added to his tally for the night with his and Madrid’s second goal. It was a slightly fortunate one as well, as a clearance forward from Xabi Alonso fell perfectly into the path of Angel Di Maria. The Argentine, with his pace, spearheaded a counter-attack, while Carles Puyol did fantastically well to keep up with him. Once in the Barca box, however, Puyol slipped, allowing Di Maria to get a shot away on goal which was deflected by Pinto. To Barca’s misfortune, however, it fell straight to an unmarked Ronaldo on the other side of the box, and was slotted home below the diving Pinto’s reach to make it an uphill task for the Catalans.

The Jordi Alba incident

There was a considerable amount of hot-headed tackling in the game, with Messi often being at the receiving end. However, much of Barca’s anger stemmed from the referee, Alberto Undiano’s supposed disposition in an unfavourable manner towards their side, with plenty of reactions from both the players and the fans whenever a foul was failed to be recognised. One such incident, right at the end of the first half, was when Alvaro Arbeloa, already on a yellow card, had a clash of knees with Jordi Alba, who was in possession, and left the Barca player on the ground. Arbeloa gestured to Alba to get up while Madrid continued with their attack, in spite of Alba needing medical attention. Unsportsmanlike behaviour, but still in accordance with the laws of the game.

The Pepe incident

Where there is a Clasico, a controversial incident from Pepe is sure to follow. Yesterday was no different, as the defender who came on as a substitute with ten minutes remaining, was involved in a negative incident with Sergio Busquets. After having elbowed Busquets out of the way, and kept possession, in spite of the whistle, by tangling with Alba as well, Pepe fell to the ground with a slight push, before getting up and jogging away with the proud smile of having escaped without a booking. Disgraceful behaviour, to say the least, and one which left a slightly sour taste in the closing stages of the game.