FC BARCELONA vs REAL MADRID
from the Camp Nou
FC BARCELONA 5 – REAL MADRID 0
EL CLÁSICO – MONDAY 29TH NOVEMBER 2010
attendance 98,255
The match . . . . .
Well for the neutral it was spectacular, for the Barcelona fans a night of pure ecstasy and for the Madrid fans a humiliation.
Pep Guardiola’s side demolished Real Madrid with a mix of accurate passing, off the ball movement and deadly finishing. Straight from the off Barcelona went on the attack and after a bit of Messi magic resulted in the post saving Madrid, Xavi latched onto a pass from Iniesta and flicked the ball over Castillas to give the Catalans an early lead.
Barcelona continued pressing forward and eight minutes later Villa slipped a cross past Ramos and Castillas allowing Pedro to score. If the Madrid fans were hoping for their side to be stung into action, they were to be disappointed, as Mourinho’s team continued to sit back and watch Barcelona play. Ronaldo had a free-kick whistle past Valdes’ post, but that was pretty much it from the Portuguese star, raising the question again about his ability to perform when it matters most.
Surprisingly Mourinho opted to become more defensive at half-time, replacing Ozil with holding midfielder Lass, perhaps in an attempt to hold Barcelona and then catch them on the counter-attack. But to attack you need the ball and for the first fifteen minutes of the second-half Real Madrid looked like a rabbit caught in car headlights, as Messi and Co ran circles around them. Before the hour mark Barcelona had doubled their lead to four, with some clinical Villa finishing and the game was over for the visitors.
Barcelona were content to keep possession, stroking the ball around the sodden Camp Nou pitch. With frustration growing on the faces of the Madrid players the tackles became more rash. Unfortunately after substitute Jeffren had added a fifth in injury time, Sergio Ramos lost the plot scything down a rampant Messi. The Madrid defender on receiving a straight red card then pushed Puyol in the face and as he walked off, did the same to Xavi. Spain national coach Vincente del Bosque with have a few fences to mend within his squad the next time they meet!
After the melee had died down referee Iturralde quickly blew for full time and Barcelona had deservedly taken the honours against their arch rivals from the Spanish capital.
Some photos . . . . .
credit to elmundodeportiva
What the papers say . . . . .
from BARCELONA |
from MADRID |
from BARCELONA |
from MADRID |
sport webpage | as webpage | mundo webpage | marca webpage |
Sport says ‘handful for Mourinho’
As says ‘thrashed and unstable’
Mundo says ‘a dunking for Madrid’
Marca says ‘too much Barcelona’
Quotes from the managers . . . . .
Mourinho – “One team played to their maximum potential, whilst the other has been very bad.” Madrid coach responding to the ‘have you been humiliated’ question.
Guardiola – “I dedicate this victory to Cruyff and Rexach, who started all this.” Pep recognises that Barcelona’s youth development program produced 8 players of the starting 11.
Shove of the day . . . . .
Cristiano Ronaldo on Pep Guardiola after the Catalan coach threw the ball from him.
One final thought . . . . .
As both managers were quick to point out the league title is far from over. Real Madrid are a couple of points behind and have a tough match against Valencia on Saturday. Barcelona travel to Osasuna, after a mid-week triangle match in the Catalan Cup final (don’t ask!). But come the next scheduled meeting between the two sides in April, I suspect the gap between the two will be similar.
They also have the potential to meet in both the King’s Cup and Champions League, so this could be the first of five clásicos this season! If that happens Mourinho will be hoping the final overall score is a little different from last night.
amazing, amazing match!! i deeply envy the crowd celebrating at the camp nou and at las ramblas… hope to be able to watch a clasico in my lifetime 🙂
again, i really love your blog!
It was a fantastic evening, the bar I was in went completely bonkers! I have been here 10 years now, but still havent managed to get a ticket (at a sensible price!). One day . . . .