December 03, 2009
Both sides had deficiencies- Ronaldo had just returned to the team after a month and a half of injury, and Ibrahimovic was doubtful to play at all for Barcelona. However, there was no excuse for Real’s lethargy throughout the game.
They had several point-blank shots blocked by Valdes (more specifically, his feet), and yet failed to capitalize on any of them (not that I’m complaining). Barcelona encountered the same problem for the first half, with several Dani Alves shots going well over or wide of the goal, as well as Thierry Henry and Messi shooting balls straight into Casillas.
Overall, however, Barcelona controlled the possession for the entirety of the game. In fact, when Sergio Busquets was sent off in the 63rd minute after receiving a 2nd yellow card, Real Madrid still was not able to score! Barcelona played a man down for 27 whole minutes before Lassana Diarra was also sent off with two yellow cards. For 27 minutes Real had a 1-man advantage and they could do nothing.
Perhaps their spirits were darkened by the absolutely perfect cross from Dani Alves to Ibrahimovic who volleyed the ball right past the outstretched arms of Casillas. The Swede came on at halftime for a less than mediocre Henry, who failed to make much of an impression during the game.
Real Madrid’s only valid excuse for their lack of scores was the fearsome Barcelona defense composed of Puyol, Busquets, Pique, and Abidal. Puyol personally stopped Higuain and Ronaldo at least twice by throwing his legs in front of the ball before the strikers were able to get a shot off. Well done, Puyol.
Nevertheless, Real Madrid was solidly outplayed. All they could do was trip and shove Messi and Dani Alves and the like, conducting cheap plays to try and make up for their inability to overcome the Catalans.
On a side note: during the game was fouled, and apparently it was questionable as to whether or not he “threw” himself or if he was legitimately fouled. Ronaldo decided to say something to either Iniesta or the ref about his thoughts on the subject, claiming Iniesta had made the foul more theatrical than necessary. Iniesta went up to him and literally said “tu callas!” which means, shut up. Iniesta later went on to explain (though I can’t find an article now) that the reason he got so heated about Ronaldo commenting on the subject was that Ronaldo himself was in no place to be talking about embellishing fouls. Iniesta is officially my favorite person ever for actually calling Ronaldo out on being the biggest actor ever.
