El Clásico Review: Superstars Break Jinx From Penalties In a Dull Draw

Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona

(Ronaldo 82’ P) (Messi 53’ P)

Red Card: Raul Albiol

This was the match the whole world was waiting for! It is true that 3 other matches scheduled around the same time, and all three more important than this, diluted the attraction of the tie, but when Real Madrid play Barcelona everyone expect to see some dazzling football. But what we saw was a not-so-interesting match where superstars Ronaldo and Messi broke their respective jinx, but that too with penalties. The 1-1 draw between the teams did not change the scenario in the league in any way, or may be made the Barcelona’s winning inevitable from probable.

Changes in Squads:

Pep Guardiola played the best card in his deck with much of a surprise. There were a lot of speculations regarding Captain Carles Puyol’s injury and most of the mortals believed that ‘el Capitan’ won’t be back at least before the Copa Del Rey final. With him, missing and Mascherano too, there was a problem to face in the defence. But to the surprise of all, Puyol was fit and was in the first eleven. It must have shocked the confidence shell that Real Madrid had built before the match preparing for the match.

Real Madrid did not start with their usual team either. Taking the lesson from the last thrashing, Mourinho inserted Pepe as a cover before the defence in between the holding midfielders Xabi Alonso and Khedira. However, that was not very much unexpected and in the preview yours truly too mentioned about the possibility. But instead of playing Özil, he put his faith on Argentine winger Angel Di Maria to start. Most probably he wanted to use the ex-Benfica man’s pace against an attack minded Barcelona side. Benzema too got the chance to play ahead of in-form Adebayor despite just coming back from injury.

Barren First Half:

As the match started Barcelona started to gain control over the proceedings with their swift passing display. However, Real Madrid looked dangerous on the few counter attacks they created and looked more dangerous to score. Messi’s run behind the defence and attempt to chip over Casillas was the first clear opportunity for the Catalans but Casillas almost plucked it out of air. Ronaldo took a free kick and Valdes received it without much effort. Barcelona had their best chance on the 25^th minute when Messi found Villa in the box who was a few microseconds faster than goalkeeper Casillas and was brought down. But the referee decided for a goal kick much to the dismay of Barcelona players. At the end of the first half Real Madrid almost scored from a corner when Di Maria found Ramos on the far post and his header found Carvalho free at the near post. But Carvalho’s header on goal was valiantly headed away from the goal line by Adriano.

David Villa Penalty claim

Half of Penalties and Broken Jinx:

The second half started in a similar way Barcelona players passing between themselves and Madridistas chasing the ball. At the 53^rd minute Villa got a chance in front of the goal and Raul Albiol held him to prevent from scoring. The referee decided for a penalty and a direct red card Albiol. Messi converted the penalty past Casillas with ease to break down his jinx of scoring against a Mourinho side and Real Madrid found themselves in a tricky situation, 0-1 down and down to 10 men. But a few substitutions changed the game. Ozil, Adebayor and Arbeloa came in for Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Di Maria for Real Madrid. Guardiola had to substitute Puyol due to a hamstring injury again and Adriano, who did a great defending job, for a calf strain.Keita and Maxwel came in but were not confident enough in their places. Real Madrid started attacking with fresh zeal and had the better game with 10 men on. Finally, at the 82^nd minute Alves apparently brought down Marcelo in the penalty box to give away a penalty. Now it was Cristiano Ronaldo’s chance to break the jinx of scoring against Barcelona and he did in style. With very little time left, Barcelona pressed hard and created one or two chances but they were not to be taken.

Messi lasered while going to take the penalty

What to conclude:

Getting back from 0-1 deficit with 10 men and that true against a team like Barcelona is an incredible job. Real Madrid fans and players are feeling like the real winners of the result-less tie. But the thing to realise is that they have lost the minimum chance they had of winning the league. May be someone can argue that the league would have not come to Santiago Bernabeu this time even if they had won the tie, but still, drawing against their arch-rivals in front of home support is not an incredible result. To counter the 10 men logic, the fact is that the card was legitimate and even without that foul Barcelona could have got the lead as David Villa even in his current form should finish such a chance. The thing to worry is the amount of possession they conceded to the opponents, more than 70%. It’s true that counter attacks and set piece were dangerous, but Real Madrid did not show something that could take Pep Guardiola’s sleep away thinking of the next three clásico they need d to appear in.

Ronaldo: breaking the Barca jinx!

The game was not great for Barcelona either. A lot of possession, but of what use! There were not many clear chances on goal throughout the match. The worrying point is the condition of the defence after Puyol and Adriano had to be removed. Busquets was pulled down to Centre Back, but Busquets is not Puyol. Keita was placed at the defensive midfield position and again Keita is not Busquets. More than once, Keita lost possession dangerously and could have led to the team conceding more goals. Özil toyed with Keita whenever he had the possession of ball. Now with Puyol injured again the defensive worries will come up again. The good news is that Puyol’s injury is not sever and he may be ready to play before the Copa final and Mascherano will be available as the defensive covers in the next matches. But again, a tough tackling Mascherano will be vulnerable to card in a tough match with Spanish refereeing.

So Many Firsts:

This match added some new things to the list of statistics. Lionel Messi scored for the first time against a sided coached by Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo scored for the first time against Barcelona. Pep Guardiola managed Barcelona, for the first time dropped point in el clásico. But still, when will Messi score against a Mourinho from field play and when will Ronaldo do it either? Ronaldo did not score against Barcelona and the Spanish team in the few times he faced and neither did he in the first 58 minutes. What was common in all these? The opposition had a defender named Carles Puyol in the squad. When will Ronaldo score when Puyol is on field?

Puyol injury: defensive worries?

What Next?

We need not wait long enough to see the next step. There is going to be another el clásico in a three days time, when these two teams meet again for the Copa Del Rey final on Wednesday. And before you write off the Barcelona team’s invincibility, just remember the game they played on 29^th November, 2010. Do you think that the difference is only in the improvement in the Real Madrid squad? Where is the urgency to score that we saw that night? Tonight’s game was of much less importance for the team and there is a lot at stack in the next 18 days. Expect to see a rejuvenated and more eager to win Barcelona team in the next matches they face. If you still have any doubt, look at their away record in the Champions League. Barcelona had never won an away match in UCL knock out before the 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk. And then look what they did with the same teams at Camp Nou. Guardiola prefers to play his cards close to his chest. Yes, there are exceptions. And that is what raises the confidence of the Real Madrid fans. Real Madrid will face a tougher competition from Barcelona in the next three matches. Can Real Madrid be the exception? If any team can, at this moment, it is Real Madrid.