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| Saturday, 21 April 2012 21:59 |
Ronaldo silences Camp NouBarcelona 1-2 Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo scored one of the most significant goals of his career with the winner as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou tonight. Sami Khedira’s first half opener was cancelled out midway through the second half by a scrappy goal from Alexis Sanchez, but Ronaldo had the final word with his 73rd minute goal to secure a victory that will surely propel Real Madrid to the La Liga title. After a difficult midweek for both clubs that saw them fall to their respective Champions League foes, it was Jose Mourinho’s men who came out the sharper of the two. The visitors displayed a dogged commitment to their individual assignments and closed down well in midfield, countering with real intent whenever they had possession. Cristiano Ronaldo won the first corner of the game and got up well to deliver a header on target that Valdes struggled to tip over. Minutes later, Pepe’s careless pass out of defence was picked off by Dani Alves, who would have been clean through on goal, but his first touch let him down and Casillas arrived in the nick of time to smother the danger. The visitors’ dedication was rewarded in the 17th minute through a very unlikely source. Valdes initially saved Pepe’s towering header, but Puyol hesitated in making the clearance and Sami Khedira was able to steal in and bundle the ball home for only his second goal in La Liga this season. Mourinho gets it rightLionel Messi played Xavi through on 27 minutes with a sublime pass, but somehow the Spanish maestro contrived to miss the target entirely with only Casillas to beat. By now, Barcelona’s influence was growing, but still they were unable to carve open the tight ranks of Madrid defenders. Jose Mourinho’s tactics were spot on in the first half and Los Merengues would deservedly go into the half time break 1-0 up.
Barca continued their dominance on into the second half but had comparatively few looks at goal. The absence of a striker in the middle of the pitch for Barca meant there was no one to run between Madrid’s central defenders. As a result, they were forced to bear down on the flanks, but Coentrao was in much better form than at midweek and was on hand to stymie Dani Alves on multiple occasions. The withdrawal of Xavi for Alexis Sanchez proved fruitful almost immediately as Barca finally had a forward presence in the penalty area and they were level within minutes. A surging run from Messi and a neat backheel from Iniesta set up Cristian Tello, whose shot was saved by the legs of Iker Casillas. The rebound was struck back towards goal by Adriano, bringing another save out of Casillas, but Alexis Sanchez was on hand to scramble the ball over the line for Barca. Clinical finish from RonaldoParity did not last long, however, and it was Cristiano Ronaldo who restored Madrid’s lead. Mesut Ozil played an excellent ball down the right, allowing Ronaldo time to run onto it and finish superbly past the onrushing Valdes from a difficult angle, his 54th goal of the season.
The disbelieving Camp Nou faithful fell silent as they watched their team labour away in pursuit of an equaliser. Though Barcelona continued to boss the possession, it was the visitors who created the better chances, and time eventually ran out on Barca, all but ending their hopes of retaining the La Liga crown. It was a massive effort from Real Madrid and credit has to go to Jose Mourinho for preparing his squad psychologically to overcome the disappointment in Munich and play a complete game and take victory from Barcelona. Portuguese trio shinePepe and Coentrao were unflappable in the face of enormous pressure from the Barcelona front line, and Cristiano Ronaldo was yet again world class with his 4th goal in his last five matches against Barcelona. It was Real Madrid’s first victory at the Camp Nou since December 2007, and only their second El Clasico victory in their last 15 outings. For Barcelona, it marks the first time they have lost consecutive games in almost three years.
Mourinho and coompany will return to the Bernabeu in confident mood to host Bayern Munich on Wednesday. by Nathan Motz |
There is no complaints because we won but Di Maria played terribly and as soon as I saw Callejon, I knew Mourinho lost faith in Kaka. Di Maria and Ozil were both flops until that assist. Kaka deserves better.. but CR is incredible. The way he deals with critics and has been showing up recently in big matches with Atletico and Barcelona. He will be the difference if they turn it around against Bayern. This form is all I can ask for ahead of the Euros.
Pepe & Coentrao played well as well, although I cant figure out why he selected Coentrao over marcelo.
halla madrid
forca portugal
I actually feel sorry for both teams to have to play this match between the CL Semis. It gives their opponents a big advantage. That being said, huge teams, need to win in the most difficult of situations.
The Cristiano haters will always be there, as will the Messi ones. Frankly they both look silly criticizing each other.
I was thrilled with Cristiano's posted Quote of the Day.
I would also like to add, that I was a big Benzema critic. He seemed lost at times and just looked weak mentally. But, he has really come on after January. He is much more active and moves with purpose.
Higuain scores, but he misses a ton. He's very much like Suarez (Liverpool). They just miss out on too many opportunities.
Let's see what happens this midweek.
But I respect anyone else's wishes too to decide who they suppourt, and I repeat it's good to see the power in the Spanish Liga become more balanced this season, even if the 3rd place team is 30 points behind the top 2. That must be frustrating for the Spanish federation, as it has become like the Scottish League these days where you have two giants, and the rest cannot even compete for the League title. At least in Portugal we had 3 this season, and possibly 4 next season!!
Having said that great game, Coentrão looked better then against Bayern. (mainly because facing Robben and Lahm on your own is too much for any left back) Ronaldo's goal was fanstastic (full credit to Ozil as well for the pass) and Pepe was a beast.
i pray every day for these 3 real player not get injured because they are the core of our NT that going to win the EURO.
Hopefully, they will play well on Wednesday and get past Bayern.
I was only able to catch the last 30 minutes, but from what I've heard, Pepe and Coentrao were also excellent. Coentrao's performance against Bayern was probably the worst in his career, but he is a young, world class left back and he learns from his mistakes.
I'm glad that Real Madrid, my second team after Benfica, got such a huge win. Hopefully they'll beat Bayern on Wednesday.
Forca Mourinho, Ronaldo, Pepe, e Coentrao!!!
and this just proves my statement, any team able to apply enough pressure to barca can win!
btw i dont know if many of you noticed but benzema worked like a horse today!!!
from DRSA