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Villa and Messi celebrating Barca's leveler
The first big chance came in the ninth minute when Ronaldo picked free Benzema inside the box, but the French couldn’t head it into the net, the ball being saved at the death by keeper Valdez. But just four minutes later the same Benzema developed a tremendous action on the right which he finished with a slow pass for Ozil who beat the Catalan keeper for a one goal lead. As expected, it was a tense game in which the referee showed five yellow cards, three of which being seen by the hosts.
Khedira was the first to get booked for a tough challenge in the middle in the 32nd minute. On the other side, Barca were chasing their leveler desperately. David Villa broke the ice in the 37th minute leveling the score with an outstanding shot from out side the box straight into the top left hand corner past flying Casillas, to resuscitate his side who were dominated especially in the early minutes.
Benzema missed a great opportunity in the 43rd minute when the French penetrated the box only to be blocked by Mascherano in what could have been the second lead for Real. Anyway, the unexpected was yet to come as Messi, who barely touched the ball in the first half an hour, made it 2-1 after a persona exquisite which saw the Argentine slalom past two defenders inside the box to score below Casillas. The half time went 2-1 to Pep Guardiola’s side, but the game was far from being over, given the many chances both sides missed in the first 45 minutes.
Jose Mourinho started the second half with a substitution, introducing newly-arrived Coentrao for Di Maria in the 53rd minute. Two minutes later, Xabi Alonso evened the situation with an outrageous shot from outside the box between two defender’ legs and past Valdez, but that was the last goal Real managed to score. Alexis Sanchez, Barca’s new acquisition, could only beat his marking Marcelo twice, but despite that he was kept on the pitch by Guardiola until the last minute. He would also receive a yellow card for sins in the 56th minute.
Guardiola made his first change in the 58th minute, introducing Xabi for Thiago. Gerard Pique was also introduced a couple of minutes later for Adriano. The 65th minute saw Ronaldo miss another big opportunity. Ozil played the Portuguese in good position but his shot was saved by a great shaped Valdez who would deny Benzema, too, a couple of minutes later.
David Villa was also replaced by Pedro in the 73rd minute, but things did not change too much in the last 15 minutes. Alonso picked a yellow card in the 78th minute after taking down Messi as the game was getting rougher. Higuain was introduced for Benzema in the 80th minute. The Argentine first sparkled two minutes later, feeding Ronaldo on the edge of the box but the scoreboard remained unchanged.
Barca were also chasing the winner as Messi got very close to it in the 87th minute. Pedro beat his mark to highlight the Argentine inside the box for a big miss. The game finished with two more yellow cards seen by Coentrao and Alves. Said Mourinho assistant Karanka: “The final score is what it is. We did a good job, just like in the preseason. It’s a shame we didn’t win given our excellent performance and the many chances we had to score. We still have to play a match in Barcelona and we want to continue improving.” The second leg will take place on Wednesday at the Camp Nou. This was the 214th El Clasico which includes 86 wins for Real, 84 for Barca and 44 draws.
Real Madrid – Casillas; Marcelo, Carvalho, Pepe, Ramos; Alonso, Khedira, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria, Benzema. Reserves: Kaka, R. Varane, A. Adan, Arbeola, J. Callejon, G. Higuain, F. Coentrao.
FC Barcelona – Victor Valdez; Dani Alvez, Mascherano, Abidal, Correia; Keita, Thiago, Iniesta; Sanchez, Villa, Messi. ReserveS: J. Pinto, G. Pique, A. Fontas, Xabi, Pedro, Jonathan, S. Busquets.
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