Copa del Rey
It was a happy ending for Jose Mourinho’s boys on Wednesday night as Real Madrid broke all barriers to come up against one of the best football clubs Barcelona clinching a narrow win 1-0 at Estadio de Mestalla Stadium, Valencia thereby clinching the Spanish cup Copa del Rey.
The game kicked off with great intensity. Barcelona had 6 of the World Cup winning squad while Real Madrid had 4. Just ten minutes into the game and the continuity of the game seems to have been lost as players fought hard against each other and the referee had no other option to blow his whistle. But a flurry a free-kicks and short passes kept everyone sticking to their seats. Oezil supported Ronaldo brilliantly as kept creating chances but could only see the ball going wide or rebounding off the post. Barcelona keeper managed his best to keep down Ronaldo’s shots but still it did not change the Portugese midfielder‘s mentality to go for glory. Towards the end of the first half Real Madrid put on some scintillating display of football for the viewers as Pepe headed the ball to the post with the goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto watching it past in the 44th minute.
However the tides began to change sides as Barcelona took control early in the second half. It kicked off with an early penalty appeal from Iniesta but was denied by Alberto Undiano. It did not take long for Messi to get into the act as he combined well with Dani Alves in the wings. But Real Madrid put on a superb defensive display with Sergio Ramos, Ricardo Carvalho, Marcelo closing in on the Argentine maestro. But still Messi got his skill into play in the 69th minute for Pedro to net the goal and in his mid-way celebrations was put on a hold when the linesman sidelined him as offside. Casiallas was as usual brilliant with his gloves, sticking to the shots from Lionel Messi. It was nearly full time but an ambitious twenty yards shot from diMaria was denied by a diving Pinto to extend the game into extra time. But the moment of the match came in the 102nd minute when a long goal kick from Casillas urged Marcello and diMaria to take control of the ball and Marcello set up al final tap to diMaria who swept a beautiful cross to Ronaldo who then broke the deadlock with a header giving no chance whatsoever for Pinto.
Any match between Real Madrid and Barcelona is consider as a Clasico. 4 clasicos were scheduled and now 2 are over. But the remaining two are the big ones, the Champions Trophy two legger. Will Real Madrid continue to march ahead with this spectacular form or will Barcelona rise up to the occasion which is the test for the best football clubs in the world?
Tags: Barcelona, Copa del Rey, Estadio de Mestalla Stadium, Football, Real Madrid, Spanish Cup, Valencia
