Real Madrid Vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico: Blaugranas Win 2-1 On Abidal, Puyol Goals

Once again, Real Madrid started strong in El Clasico, but Barcelona eventually picked them apart. It was the same old story in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal on Wednesday night, with Cristiano Ronaldo getting on the scoreboard early, but the Blaugranas dominating the second half to take a 2-1 victory to the Camp Nou. Los Merengues will need a miracle in the second leg next Wednesday, where they will need to win by two goals or score three times in a one-goal win.

Ronaldo's goal came in the 11th minute on a brilliant run, but some poor goalkeeping. Karim Benzema released him into space with a through ball and he took off with the ball, surging towards goal. Gerard Pique forced him into a left-footed shot at a bad angle, but Jose Manuel Pinto allowed Ronaldo's shot to go through his legs, giving Madrid a 1-0 lead.

Barcelona looked like the superior side in the latter part of the first half and continued their dominance to start the second half. It only took them four minutes to find an equalizer, and they found it in unlikely fashion on a corner kick. Xavi delivered a great in-swinger that looked like it would find the head of Pique at the near post, but he missed and the ball continued on. Carles Puyol anticipated the ball getting through and lost Pepe before hitting a diving header into the back of the net, tying the score at 1-1.

The game featured a bit of controversy in the 69th minute, when Pepe appeared to step on the hand of Lionel Messi while he was on the ground. The referee completely missed the incident and it devolved into a large scuffle that wasn't quite a fight. The Spanish FA will likely review the incident, and it would not be surprising to see Pepe suspended for the second leg.

Eric Abidal was the unlikely scorer of the winning goal, and it was a brilliant one. Messi, who was having a very average game up until this point, provided an absolutely stunning assist with a chip into the box for Abidal to run onto. Like a center forward, Abidal controlled the ball brilliantly with his chest and pushed it into the back of the net with his second touch, giving the Blaugranas a massive advantage heading to the Camp Nou.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. For all of the previous in-came coverage, check out our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Lionel Messi hasn't been at his best today, but he's just worked a piece of magic to give Barcelona a 2-1 lead at the Santiago Bernabeu. The visitors' number ten managed to draw no less than seven players inside to challenge him, and, somehow spotting the run of left back Eric Abidal through a crowd of bodies, flicked a beautiful pass straight into the Frenchman's path, leaving him one-on-one with Iker Casillas. Abidal isn't fazed by the occasion, and calmly strokes the ball home at the far corner.

So that's not going to make Jose Mourinho very happy, despite a strong reaction from Real Madrid that should probably have seen one of Karim Benzema and Jose Callejon score after good work from Cristiano Ronaldo. His team's thrown away a 1-0 halftime lead and have less than ten minutes left to draw level. They're losing at home to Barcelona. Again.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

There's another great chance for Barcelona to take the lead. From a long free kick, Sergio Busquets rises highest, guiding a header juuuust over Iker Casillas's crossbar and onto the roof of the net. He probably should have scored there, especially if Pep Guardiola's face on the sideline is any indicator. It says something that three of the four best Barcelona chances of the match have come from headers, but I'm not entirely sure what that is. Perhaps they'd be ok against Stoke after all?

Real Madrid are doing their utmost to put pressure on Barca, but they're mostly running into dead ends and losing the ball far too easily, which is making it very difficult for the hosts to both attack and defend convincingly at the same time. Now that Barcelona have their away goal, they're less inclined to leave Real space for the counterattack, so things aren't looking too good for Jose Mourinho and company right now. Still 1-1 though, and anything can happen.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Despite all of his histronics, Sergio Busquets is one of the best midfielders in the world and he shows it when Fabio Coentrao dares to try to burst past him on the Barcelona right, diving into an inch-perfect slide tackle that takes the ball off the fullback, flattens him, and allows to keep it in play. Granted, if someone did that to him he'd have claimed it broke his leg, but it's still a brilliant piece of play regardless.

Real Madrid, who'd really quite like to win this match, are making a change, taking off Gonzalo Higuain and Lassana Diarra and replacing them with Mesut Ozil and Jose Callejon, which will allow them to move from this defensive 4-3-3 to a more familiar 4-2-3-1. Whether or not that's enough to break down this Barcelona defence or not is a good question, but there's plenty of firepower and speed in the hosts' front line at this point, and it's just a matter of getting them the ball. Within seconds of coming on, Callejon takes out Lionel Messi and earns himself a yellow card. Pepe treads on Messi's hand while he's on the ground and should be sent off, but isn't.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

In football-related news, Barcelona have nearly scored another, with Sergio Ramos having to be at his very best to deflect an effort by Andres Iniesta onto the post and away following a sublime scooped pas over the Real Madrid defence from former Arsenal man Cesc Fabregas. That probably should have been 2-1. At the other end of the pitch, the hosts have finally had a meaningful attack from build-up play as Hamit Altintop does Eric Abidal down the right and sends in a deep cross which picks out Karim Benzema at the back post only for the French forward to hit the upright with a thunderous header.

In non-football news, Sergio Busquets has been booked for being an idiot, blocking Xabi Alonso from taking a quick free kick right in front of the refereee. Dear, dear me. Anyway, it's 1-1 right now, but that score doesn't really look like standing.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Well, the question of whether or not this Real Madrid defence can keep Barcelona off the board is no longer open. The visitors have drawn level in a very un-Barca-like way - from a corner. The ball in from Xavi floats over Gerard Pique, but Carles Puyols is on hand to pull off a fantabulous diving header and ping the ball straight into the bottom corner, with Iker Casillas stranded. Pepe, incidentally, completely failed to track Puyols's run, so Madrid can lay most of the blame for that goal on his shoulders.

Anyway, the game continues. Alexis Sanchez is fouled by Sergio Ramos, who has the temerity to wave around an imaginary yellow card for the Chilean after having kicked him quite hard in the calf. Madrid, already short-tempered after conceding, are getting even crankier now, and there's a bit of unfriendly behaviour going on between the two sides now. Hopefully that doesn't continue, because as a football match this has been pretty excellent. After 50 minutes, we're all square at 1-1.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

We're back at the Santiago Bernabeu. Did you miss us? You totally should have, because this game's been fantastic so far. Real Madrid have kicked off the second half, and it's taken them all of 25 seconds to give the ball away after they play things far too fast and loose in the own half. So Barcelona, back in possession, can build up a vicious-looking attack that sees Cesc Fabregas slipped into space on the left. His pullback is juuust about scrambled clear, but there's a Barcelona foul in the process (Alexis Sanchez is markedly unhappy with the call) and the free-kick releives some of the pressure on Iker Casillas's goal.

It does not, however, result in possession for the hosts, which might not be a bad thing considering how lost Jose Mourinho's team looks when they have the ball. They'll want to just keep doing what they're doing - defending stoutly and then trying to break at speed with that dangerous front three. Whether they can manage this while keeping their opponents off the scoreboard is an open question...

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Real Madrid lead Barcelona after 45 minutes of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal, first leg match, but they just barely held on to keep a clean sheet heading into the break. Los Merengues lead by a score of 1-0 at halftime on a goal by the much maligned Cristiano Ronaldo, but Jose Mourinho will be looking to make some adjustment to his team at halftime. A Barcelona goal looked inevitable for a bit, and Madrid will have been happy to see the whistle.

The 11th minute goal featured some shoddy goalkeeping, but there's nothing to take away from Ronaldo or Madrid. Karim Benzema provided the assist with a through ball into acres of space for Ronaldo to run on to after Barcelona lost the ball in the Madrid half. Ronaldo made a brilliant 60-yard run before Gerard Pique got in front of him and forced him into one option, a left-footed shot from a narrow angle. Ronaldo took what he was given and hit a calm finish between the legs of Jose Manuel Pinto. It's not unfair to say that Victor Valdes would have done better.

Barcelona almost equalized in the 16th minute through Alexis Sanchez. Cesc Fabregas played a great chip into the box for the Chilean, who hit an even better header, but his shot hit the crossbar and bounced away after beating Iker Casillas badly.

Casillas did have a couple of moments of brilliance, however. He made a great near-post reaction save on a low Lionel Messi shot in the 26th minute, then made a spectacular clearance with a diving header outside of his penalty area in the 33rd minute.

Messi has had a solid game, but has not been his usual influential self. The Merengues midfield three of Pepe, Xabi Alonso and Lassana Diarra is having an excellent game and is making life difficult for Barcelona in the center of midfield. Though Mourinho's tactics are working, makeshift right back Hamit Altintop began to look shaky in the latter part of the second half, while the team as a whole has passed the ball poorly. There won't necessarily be halftime subs, but expect some tactical adjustments to start the second half.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Jose Mourinho's doing a strange little angry dance on the sidelines (possibly claiming a field goal?) but it's difficult to figure out what he's on about. Real Madrid try to play the ball out of their own half and things are looking good until former Benfica man Fabio Coentrao tries to pass to Lassana Diarra and ends up sending the ball to Sergio Busquets instead. Desperate to regain possession, Diarra kicks Busquets quite hard in the leg, and the man with the notoriously low pain threshold goes down in a heap, earning himself a free kick. Because it, and it was a foul.

So as things go we've been blessed with a half of mostly exciting football - on that note Alexis Sanchez has just been played clean through and incorrectly flagged offside, much to his consternation - with a relative minimum of Pepeing and Busquetsing. This has been the most positive Clasico for a while, and hopefully the second half continues the trend. Five minutes to go in the first, and it's 1-0 Madrid. That score has a lot to do with an absolutely perfect tackle by Ricardo Carvalho on Lionel Messi, by the way.

Real Madrid have been seeing quite a lot of the ball since the Andres Iniesta miss, which is making them look far less dangerous - despite the threat of their three forward players, they don't really seem like breaking through Barcelona when the visitors have numbers back. It's on the counterattack that Cristiano Ronaldo and company are looking great, and that can't happen when they start out with the ball.

Speaking of counterattacks, Barcelona launch one, nearly finding Cesc Fabregas with a lovely aerial pass/Blackburn Rovers-style punt which requires Iker Casillas to race out of his box to head clear, coming quite close to getting a boot to the head in the process. Both teams look vulnerable on the break, and Real Madrid look pretty poor whenever Hamit Altintop gets involved. He's just given away the ball twenty yards from goal, and the hosts are pretty lucky that nothing came from it. Anyway, it's 1-0 to Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, but if this game finishes like that I'll eat my hat.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Broadly speaking, Barcelona have been well on top since Cristiano Ronaldo's opening goal (then again, Barcelona are always well on top by possession and territory). Ronaldo had a huge chance to change that and make it 2-0 to Real Madrid just now, having caught Dani Alves in possession near the halfway line and sprinting with the ball towards Jose Pinto's goal. It's a similar position to that from which he scored his opener, but instead of bursting into the box, Ronaldo opts to try to slip Karim Benzema in and gets his pass all wrong, allowing Eric Abidal to clear.

Again, Barcelona respond instantly. That man Lionel Messi breaks down the left, cuts inside to shoot and opts to blast the ball at the tasty-looking hole at Iker Casillas's near post. Unfortunately for the visitors, Spain's number one is once again up to the challenge and beats the ball clear. Minutes later, a rare bit of poor control lets Madrid off the hook and Andres Iniesta miscontrols and blasts an excellent chance well wide. This is quite a good match of football, and it's 1-0 Madrid.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Alright, more stuff keeps happening. This game is much more fun than previous Clasicos. An exquisite aerial long ball* from Xavi picks out Alexis Sanchez racing into Iker Casillas's box, and the tiny Chilean somehow pulls from of both Sergio Ramos and Fabio Coentrao and meets the pass with a quite brilliant header. Casillas is completely beaten and is relieved when the ball ricochets back off the post and is eventually scrambled clear.

*If Barcelona were, say, Stoke, this would just be your standard long punt forwards, mind.

Aaaand now we've back to regular Clasiconess. Pepe stamps on Sergio Busquets for roughly no reason at all - that's not nice, Pepe - and the Real Madrid man is booked for his troubles as Busquets writhes around in pain. Minutes later, it's Pepe's turn to collapse in an embarrassing, undignified heap when Gerard Pique goes up for a header against him. A confused Pique (granted, he always looks confused) is shown a card too, much to the consternation of everyone. Anyway, it's still Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu. Less of this paragraph and more of the first please.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

And so much for things being quiet. Cristiano Ronaldo, who blew a host of chances in the previous fixture between these two teams, has just put Real Madrid ahead of Barcelona! Pep Guardiola often talks about how poor his team are without the ball, and they certainly don't cover themselves in glory here, losing possession in midfield and allowing Karim Benzema to hit a long diagonal forward to his Portuguese teammate.

Ronaldo races clear of the defence and with Gonzalo Higuain an option in the centre, Jose Pinto refuses to commit to a shot and is take by surprise when the ball is blasted between his legs and into the back of the net for the game's opening goal. There's nearly an instant response from Barcelona with Andres Iniesta forcing a fine save from Iker Casillas, but the subsequent corner comes to nothing and it's 1-0 Madrid.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Ooh, that's the first really interesting moment of the match. A cross comes in from the Barcelona left and just about eludes Cesc Fabregas, allowing a grateful Iker Casillas to come and collect. Instead of showing that in further detail, ESPN Deportes has decided to show us the managers on the touchline. Jose Mourinho is dressed like a 55-year-old planning on going for a hike. Pep Guardiola, unsurprisingly, is epitomising dapper.

There's some fun stuff going on in the Barcelona half, too. Real Madrid are pressing their guests hard and Cristiano Ronaldo - a much more well-rounded player than he's given credit for - picks Dani Alves's pocket near the corner flag and instantly feeds Gonzalo Higuian in the box. Unfortunately for the hosts, the striker had no idea that the play was developing and thus never bothered coming back onside. So, yeah, not much has happened yet. Still 0-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

We're underway at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 2011/12 season's second Clasico. Real Madrid face Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Copa Del Rey - the only competition in which Jose Mourinho's men bested the European Champions last season - and the hosts will be hoping to get on the way to repeating the feat with the first leg in Madrid before heading to the Camp Nou for the second. Barcelona kick us off and proceed to hold the ball for the next minute.

By this time in the previous match, Karim Benzema had scored for Madrid, but no such luck so far for the home side. Victor Valdes isn't playing, so they're unlikely to get that sort of gift again anyway. It's Barcelona on the front foot right now - Lionel Messi's annoying the centre of the Madrid defence, but so far both sides have been pretty good out of possession. Even Cristiano Ronaldo is chipping in with a superb sliding tackle on Dani Alves as the Brazilian looked to burst down the right.

So, not much doing so far, but on the plus side nobody's done anything phenomenally Busquets-y or Pepe-y, so we'll call it all good. 0-0.

The trivote has returned, and so has Ricardo Carvalho. Surprises galore from Jose Mourinho, who has selected a very interesting Real Madrid lineup for the Copa Del Rey clash with Barcelona. Carvalho will partner Sergio Ramos in defense, while Fabio Coentrao and Hamit Altintop get surprise fullback starts. Pepe has been pushed into the midfield while both Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema start. Here's the lineup.

Real Madrid Lineup (4-3-3): Casillas; Altintop, Ramos, Carvalho, Coentrao; Pepe, Alonso, Diarra; Ronaldo, Higuaín, Benzemá

The match kicks off at 4:00 p.m. ET, 10:00 p.m. local time. You can catch the game on GolTV in the USA and Canada in English, as well as ESPN Deportes in Spanish in the USA. The game is also available in the USA on ESPN3. You can catch the game in the UK on Sky Sports 2.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

Pep Guardiola has selected his strongest possible team, or so we can only assume. Apparently, Victor Valdes isn't fit to go tonight. Jose Manuel Pinto is the starting goalkeeper. The rest of the team is as expected, with the regular back four, three in the midfield and three up top that we've come to expect from Barcelona. Real Madrid's team should feature quite a few more surprises. Here's the lineup.

FC Barcelona Lineup (4-3-3): Pinto; Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal; Busquets; Xavi, Iniesta; Fàbregas, Messi, Sanchez

The match kicks off at 4:00 p.m. ET, 10:00 p.m. local time. You can catch the game on GolTV in the USA and Canada in English, as well as ESPN Deportes in Spanish in the USA. The game is also available in the USA on ESPN3. You can catch the game in the UK on Sky Sports 2.

For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We'll have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.

It's El Clasico time again, and after the eleventh billion time this fixture's been played in the last twelve months, you'd think the public might have lost some of its appetite for Real Madrid and Barcelona giving each other the evil eye and attempted to break each others' legs/pretending as though it worked. Apparently they haven't, but over at Managing Madrid they're claiming to be rather bored of the whole deal:

So many high profile matches are stressful on the fans, the players, the coaches and everyone involved. Watching the same two teams over and over makes the Clasico just a little less special.

The rivalry itself also contributes to the dulling of these matches. You would think that it would be the opposite, as the legendary competition between the two teams is originally drew spectators. But recently, it has been the opposite. The teams, fueled by the press, now enter this match with a "must beat the other team" mentality instead of "hey let's take the field and showcase our brand of football and give our fans something to cheer about." Even us fans are affected. Take this Clasico, for example. It is the quarterfinal of the Copa del Rey, a competition usually used to give substitutes playing time, and yet a few fans are giving the match a new degree of importance. And if you ask them, it's no longer about seeing a trophy in white ribbons, but rather about not losing to Barcelona again.

(emphasis mine)

While the world might be getting a little bit bored of having a super-duper important Clasico every fifteen minutes, Madrid fans have it worse, because they're the ones losing all the time. One suspects that the Blaugranes are a little less bored of Clasico than Jose Mourinho and company.