El-Clasico Tide Turning Madrid Side

Barcelona and Real Madrid traded blows in the latest El-Clasico encounter but neither the Catalans nor their bitter rivals from the capital landed the knock-out punch as the teams shared a 2-2 draw in a pulsating encounter at the Camp Nou.

In arguably the world’s biggest football (plus political) rivalry, the two teams covered every inch at Camp Nou in a bid to nick the all vital win that means a lot more than bragging rights for either sides. But at the end of 90minutes, neither Cristiano Ronaldo’s nor Lionel Messi’s brace could separate the two teams.

Barcelona fell behind to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal midway into the first half but Lionel Messi, the only player alive who comes closest to being compared to the Portuguese whiz (and vice versa) leveled 8 minutes later. Two of the world’s best players then traded blows again in the second half with Messi scoring first for the Catalans in the 61^st minute before Ronaldo ensured the spoils were evenly shared with his 66^th minute equalizer.

It ended 2-2.

It goes without saying, however, that it’s Jose Mourinho’s men, and not Tito Vilanova’s who left Nou Camp the happier side when the final whistle was blown to end the 6^th El-Clasico encounter this year.

Real Madrid may be 8 points behind the Blaugrana alright but the draw did the former more damage than it did to the latter. First, Barca were having the advantage of playing in their own turf and in front of the home crowd. Second, Tito’s side have had the better start to the season, winning all their matches in La Liga while Madrid have only started picking form right now in a season that has seen them lose two matches in 7 matches.

Although it could be argued that Barca were lacking in defence with Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Eric Abidal and Dani Alves all absent (the latter being substituted after picking up an injury), statistics show that the Barcelona are losing their dominance over their archrivals.

The draw means that Real Madrid have now lost only once in the last five meetings against the Catalans. But even that loss, (a 3-2 win for Barca in the Supercopa in August) wasn’t impactful since Madrid won the title having beaten Barca 2-1 in the first leg.

One player who has stepped up for Jose Mourinho’s side in those fixtures is Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese captain’s brace on Sunday night means that he has become the first player to score in six successive Clasico matches. He has also scored in his last five appearances at Camp Nou, plastering a ‘shut up’ tape across the mouth of those who branded him a big-game flop during his early career days with Madrid.

The record also shows that Barcelona are losing, or rather, have lost, their dominance over Madrid which was at it pinnacle during the reign of Pep Guardiola. Gone are the days of 5-0 drubbings that Madrid was handed on November 29 2010, or even the three straight loses that Barca recorded over the Mourinho’s men between August 17 last year and January 18^th this year.

The tide seems to be turning to Madrid’s side, and against Barcelona. Quite unfortunate that we will have to hold our breath till the weekend of 2^nd and 3^rd March 2013 when the two teams clash at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu for yet another El Clasico. Cometh that day, we will be able to see how true or false this statement is.

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Madrid Hit Top Form in Time for El-Clasico

Real Madrid continued their resurgence after a poor start to the season with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena in the UEFA Champions League.

Cristiano Ronaldo netted his second hat-trick in a span of three days adding to Karim Benzema’s superb bicycle kick as Madrid easily dismissed the former European giants in their own turf.

The win comes hot on the heels of Madrid’s 5-1 demolition of Deportivo in the Spanish La Liga as Jose Mourinho’s men finally begin to click just in time for the mother of all derbies, the El Clasico, this Sunday.

Les Merengues have been slow off the blocks this season in the domestic league where they trail leaders and this weekend’s opponents Barcelona with a massive 8 points. It may still be early in the season alright but so competitive are the two teams for the La Liga title that even a point lost earlier in the season could prove the difference come end of the season.

After a poor start to the season which saw Madrid lose two matches against Getafe and Sevilla, the 32-time La Liga champions are now finding their scoring boots and winning mojo. They have won 4 matches on the trot in all competitions scoring 14 goals in the process.

Star man Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 9 of those goals and his second hat-trick in succession is indicative of a player who is putting the early season troubles behind him and sweating it out for the team which pays him hefty wages in a weekly basis.

The Clasico derby this Sunday could as well break or make Madrid’s season. A win will see them reduce the deficit between them and big rivals Barcelona to five points which they can be sure of reducing further as the season progresses. A loss and 11 points behind Barca may be a point too many to curl back.

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Barca Survive Spartak Scare as Juventus Rally Back to Draw with Chelsea

Chelsea midfielder Oscar scores against Juventus

Lionel Messi came to the rescue of his Barcelona team for the umpteenth time Wednesday night when he scored a brace inside 8 minutes to help the Blaugarana avoid an embarrassing defeat against Spartak Moscow at Camp Nou.

The mercurial Argentine netted in the 72^nd minute to draw Barca level before tapping in the winner in the 80^th minute to squeeze three points out of the match

The Catalans looked well on course for a win inside the quarter-hour mark when Tello carved in an effort from outside the area to give them the lead. Barca controlled the match but were hit at the half-hour when Dani Alves led the ball into his own net to draw level for the Russians.

Barca threw everything for the remainder of the half with both Cesc Fabregas and Dani Alves coming close but the half ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Spartak took the lead in the 59^th minute after a well-worked counter attack that started with Ari charging down the left channel before releasing the ball to Aiden McGeady who slid it to Romulo who beat his marker Adriano before slotting past Victor Valdes.

Tito Vilanova’s men huffed and puffed as they looked for the equalizer. The success would come in the 72^nd minute with Lionel Messi tapping in from close range after brilliant work from Tello on the left.

The winner came 10 minutes before the final whistle via Messi who headed home from an Alexis Sanchez cross to give the home crowd a win to cheer for but they know they might not be so lucky next time. In the other match in the Group, Celtic drew 0-0 with Benfica.

In Group E, Juventus rallied from 2 goals down to draw 2-2 with defending champions Chelsea. Brazilian star Oscar scored two superb in two minutes to give the Blues a 2-0 lead but Arturo Vidal’s 38^th minute strike opened the game heading into the interval.

Chelsea’s relaxed attitude in the second half proved costly especially in the 80^th minute when John Obi Mikel gave the ball away with substitute Fabio Quagliarella beating off an offside trap to slot between Cech’s legs for the equalizer.

Shakhtar Donetsk beat Danish Champions League debutants FC Nordsjælland 2-0 to claim the top spot in the group. Henrik Mkhitaryan scored both goals either side of half time to give the Ukrainian champions the win.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos were both on target for last season’s losing finalists Bayern Munich in their 2-1 win over Valencia. Haedo Valdez scored the consolation for the Spaniards in injury time.  BATE Borisov shocked everyone but themselves when they trounced French Ligue 1 champions Lille 3-1 at the Grand Stade Lille Métropole. Aleksandr Volodko, Vitali Rodionov and Edgar Olekhnovich gave BATE an unlikely 3-0 half-time lead and they hanged on in the second half for the win. Chedjou scored the consolation for Lille.

Finally in Group H, Michael Carrick scored the only goal for Manchester United as they beat Galatasary 1-0 at Old Trafford. CFR Cluj won 2-0 away to Sporting Braga to move to the top of the group. Rafael Bastos scored both goals.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!