So much was on the line for both Real Madrid and FC
Barcelona in the 2nd leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. Los
Blancos needed more than a 1-0 victory at Camp Nou to progress into the
semifinals with their 2-1 deficit in the tables. José Mourinho included all
his men on the squad list, save Ángel Di María and Sami Khedira due to
injury. Now, the statistics
presented against the men in white did not look favorable, having only won one of their last nine visits to Blaugrana territory. But statistics are just statistics... and football is
football – unpredictable.
I think it surprised the homecrowd to see Madrid putting up
a very strong front early on in the game.
Not even a minute in – 16 seconds, actually – and Gonzalo Higuaín got
past Barça's Gerard Piqué. Higuaín
tried again at the 3' minute mark, but Pinto saved easily. The Argentine was not the only one
coming dangerously close to netting.
Cristiano Ronaldo also attempted on more than one occasion – Pinto
denying RM yet again. But it was
perhaps German international, Mesut Özil, who came the closest. The playmaker took a long-range shot,
only to be denied the golden chance of scoring... by the crossbar. ¡Qué
lastima! It certainly was a
great shot. Had the woodwork not
gotten in his way, the goal would have been one of the best this season in La
Liga – well, at least, I think it
would've been.
It would be Barcelona who opened the scoring at the 43',
Pedro with a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner, Lionel Messi at the
assist with a through ball. He had
come on earlier in the match, replacing an injured Andrés Iniesta. The home team decided that one wasn't
enough and scored a second at the 45'+3' minute mark, Dani Alves with a
right-footed shot to the top left corner.
Iker Casillas could do nothing to stop it. A total of 4 yellows were given out this half, 3 of which
went to los Blancos – Lass Diarra,
Sergio Ramos, and, oh my gosh, wait for it, Iker
Casillas. That's right, the RM
goalkeeper received a yellow.
Real Madrid made its first substitution of the evening,
Esteban Granero on for Lass Diarra.
Ramos scored for RM at the 53' only to have the goal disallowed for a
foul on Barça's Alves. Hoping for
a change, Mourinho made a double substitution at the 61', bringing on Karim
Benzema and José Callejón on for Higuaín and Kaká, respectively. Cristiano finally got his goal at the 68', a right-footed shot to the bottom
right corner, Özil at the assist.
And then, perhaps a chain reaction, Benzema scores the equalizer at the
72' with a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner, Callejón at the assist
with a headed pass.
The match was certainly a clincher. Even with 3 minutes of added time,
neither side managed to score again.
The match ended as a 2-2 draw, with Barça advancing to the semifinals of
the Copa del Rey. This was truly a
great game to watch and los Blancos
did not go down without a fight. ¡Hasta al final, vamos Real! The men now prepare themselves for
their next match against Zaragoza at the Bernabéu, Saturday, January 28th. Until then, ¡Hala Madrid!
written by Gail Hidalgo
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