The magician Lionel Messi scored a brace to give Barcelona a two away goals advantage for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Semi Final at the Camp Nou.
It was clear that Jose Mourinho had defensive ideas in mind, when he included Pepe, Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso in the midfield with Ronaldo, Di Maria and Ozil upfront. Madrid did not include a genuine striker in the starting XI. Barcelona's starting XI saw captain Carles Puyol playing in the Left Back role, while Mascherano played as a center back with Gerard Pique, and Seydou Keita came in for the injured Andres Iniesta.
Mourinho's defensive plan did work as Lionel Messi was not allowed to get any sort of run at the Real Madrid defense. Barcelona as always dominated possession throughout the match, but the ball was rather seen in their own half. The first half was a stale mate with either side creating rare chances.
Jose Mourinho, replaced Mesut Ozil at the start of the second half with on loan Manchester City Striker Emmanuel Adebayor to strengthen up the attack. Later in the second half, Pepe was given a straight red card for a challenge on the brazilian full back Dani Alves, but the replay suggested that it should not have been a straight red as Pepe had got enough of the ball. The red card infuriated Real Madrid Manager Jose Mourinho and he started arguing with the fourth official and was sent off from the touch line. The red card to Pepe, led Real Madrid down to 10 men and suddenly Lionel Messi began to find some space to move and in the 76th minute, he scored from a cross from the substitute Ibrahim Affelay. Sergio Ramos received a yellow card for a foul on Lionel Messi due to which, he will miss the 2nd leg of the clash. In the 83rd minute Lionel Messi showed his brilliance with a classy individual goal, passing through four Real Madrid Defenders and placing the ball into the net.
Jose Mourinho and his team now have a mountain to climb in the second leg at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona thrashed them 5-0 in the league fixture. Now the question remains, will the special one be able to do it?
-- Mitesh Pithadiya
Mourinho's defensive plan did work as Lionel Messi was not allowed to get any sort of run at the Real Madrid defense. Barcelona as always dominated possession throughout the match, but the ball was rather seen in their own half. The first half was a stale mate with either side creating rare chances.
Jose Mourinho, replaced Mesut Ozil at the start of the second half with on loan Manchester City Striker Emmanuel Adebayor to strengthen up the attack. Later in the second half, Pepe was given a straight red card for a challenge on the brazilian full back Dani Alves, but the replay suggested that it should not have been a straight red as Pepe had got enough of the ball. The red card infuriated Real Madrid Manager Jose Mourinho and he started arguing with the fourth official and was sent off from the touch line. The red card to Pepe, led Real Madrid down to 10 men and suddenly Lionel Messi began to find some space to move and in the 76th minute, he scored from a cross from the substitute Ibrahim Affelay. Sergio Ramos received a yellow card for a foul on Lionel Messi due to which, he will miss the 2nd leg of the clash. In the 83rd minute Lionel Messi showed his brilliance with a classy individual goal, passing through four Real Madrid Defenders and placing the ball into the net.
Jose Mourinho and his team now have a mountain to climb in the second leg at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona thrashed them 5-0 in the league fixture. Now the question remains, will the special one be able to do it?
-- Mitesh Pithadiya
2 comments:
I don’t fancy Real to comeback in this battle for the Champions League final. The second-leg on Camp Nou will be even tougher for Mourinhos’s players.
The Tie is over... Main thing for barca was Puyol playing.Nd nw they have to chase the game at wide pitch of Camp Nou,which is toughest thing to do..
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