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22.03.2015 » Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid. Ronaldo's goal was not enough...
Real Madrid's mission of winning La Liga this year may have gotten seriously compromised this Sunday night, after seeing Barcelona defeating them 2-1 at the Camp Nou and extending the league lead to 4 points. This has been one those open Clasicos where either team could have won it, but in the end, it was Barça who came out on top and who secured 3 very important points in the title fight. Mathieu scored the opener early in the first half, but the hosts saw their lead being cancelled minutes later by Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored his 31st goal in La Liga this season (he's now only 1 goal behind Lionel Messi). Luis Suárez set the final score around the 56th minute of the game and the Merengues would basically run out of ideas from that point onwards...
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Barcelona vs Real Madrid
Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid - Goals and highlights:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs Barcelona:
The world has stopped to closely follow another Clasico in Spain and even though neither of the two teams brought their best game to the Camp Nou, no one certainly felt defrauded...
There weren't many surprises in neither Ancelotti nor Luis Enrique's choices for their starting elevens and the two teams ended up presenting the lineups everyone was already expecting during the week. Real Madrid went into the Camp Nou with Casillas in goal, Marcelo and Carvajal taking the wings at the back, and Pepe teaming up with Sergio Ramos in the center. Further ahead, the Italian manager played Modric, Kroos and Isco, leaving the attacking duties for the BBC - Bale, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barcelona on the other hand and just like it had already happened in their previous fixture against Manchester City in midweek, moved Mascherano up on the field to take the injured Sergio Busquet's place, which made some room for Mathieu to fill in as center defender and play next to Piqué. The Frenchman would turn out to have a key role in tonight's Clasico and Busquet's absence ended up not being felt as much as many were probably expecting...
The first blood was drawn by the hosts still inside the first 20 minutes of the first half, when Lionel Messi put in a perfectly weighted cross into the heart of Real Madrid's box, where Jeremy Mathieu showed up by anticipating Sergio Ramos and heading the ball flawlessly into the back of the net. Another capital mistake by the Spanish defender, who seems to keep failing way too much in this particular area of his game.
Nevertheless, Real Madrid didn't drop their arms and got back in the game roughly 10 minutes later after that Mathieu opener had landed. In what was a very fluid attacking play, the visitors had an inspired Karim Benzema assisting Cristiano Ronaldo with a terrific backheel touch and the Portuguese star finishing it off as only he knows how. The Merengues had already hit the woodwork earlier on, but this time around, they didn't waste another great chance and finally found some reasons to celebrate at the Camp Nou.
The result wouldn't suffer any changes until half-time and Ancelotti was definitely happy with the way his men were approaching this Clasico so far. Real Madrid had been slightly superior to their rivals in the first 45 minutes and the 3 points were there for the taking in the second half...
However and in a period where the Merengues were actually still on top in the game, it would be Barça scoring again. A long free-kick from Daniel Alves which was taken still inside their own half, found Luis Suárez escaping Real Madrid's last line of defense and the Uruguayan then showed all his class by controlling the pass in a majestic way and slotting the ball past Iker Casillas to make it 2-1 for Barcelona. Unlike what we had seen right after the opener in the first half, this time the goal ended up troubling Madrid's game and allowed the hosts to successfully hold on to the 1-goal lead until the referee's final whistle.
Ten fixtures left in La Liga and Real Madrid has now 4 points to cancel from Barcelona's lead. Can Ancelotti's men still do it or is it time to start prioritizing some decisions for the UEFA Champions League?
Real Madrid line-up vs Barcelona:
Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
Defenders: Marcelo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Carvajal
Midfielders: Modric, Kroos, Isco
Attackers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema.
| Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
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|---|---|---|
Barcelona
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vs
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Real Madrid
|
2 |
Goals |
1 |
12 |
Shots |
10 |
4 |
Shots on goal |
5 |
7 |
Corner kicks |
11 |
9 |
Fouls commited |
14 |
5 |
Yellow cards |
6 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
48% |
Ball possession |
52% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game will be for the Portuguese National Team against Serbia, on the 29th of March of 2015. You can watch Juventus live stream, Portugal vs Serbia, Spain vs Ukraine, Scotland vs Northern Ireland, Denmark vs USA, and Germany vs Australia, all matches provided from our football live section.
Portugal next game:
Portugal vs Serbia kick-off time (29-03-2015):
Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+6: 02:45
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 21:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 20:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-4: 16:45
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 15:45
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8 12:45
Beijing (China) | GMT+7: 03:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / realmadrid.com / bbc.com / goal.com / espnfc.com
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