El Gran Clasico: Real Madrid Versus Barcelona

See highlights of the Real Madrid v. Barca match on 12/23/07

My god, what a great game this was, six goals in all. I just got GolTV and caught this amazing game at the Nou Camp. Barcelona dominated the game, especially in the first half and at times even with just ten men.

Barca fullback Oleguer was sent off on the stroke of halftime. The four Barcelona geniuses, Etoo, Messi, Deco, and Ronaldinho, were pinging the ball in and out of Real Madrid with ease. You could even throw Iniesta into the mix as an up and coming genius. The fluid style that this club plays is a joy to watch. Of course, Real Madrid isn’t half bad either. Guti, Raul, Ruud, Robinho and their great keeper Casillas are no slouches. Take a look at the highlights below:

Ruud van Nistelrooy had three or four additional chances, besides his two goals, that were well saved by Valdes in the second half. Perhaps, Ruud could have made an additional pass or two instead of taking the shot but they were clear good chances. There have been some complaints echoed about his skill level believe it or not. Much like Owen, he’s also a pure goal scorer and doesn’t have the flash or adept passing of say Raul or Guti. In one sequence, Ruud did play the ball into Raul but stopped his run, and Raul laid the ball through into the box for what would have been a clear chance. However, Ruud struck in two goals in the Classico, and the more he settles in the better and better he’ll become. He smashed home the first goal from outside the box, rare for him to be outside his goal scoring realm of the six yard box.

Robinho, what a special player he is: feisty, graceful and tough. He came on in the second half and gave Real Madrid a lift. He swing a few balls to Ruud and others to lead attacks. Deep in his defensive third, Ronbinho even shouldered the ball away from his Brazilian partner Ronaldinho, and led a counter attack.

But the all the praise should rain down on Messi, the 19 year old from Argentina struck home his 3rd in injury time. A game winner would have brought the house down but this match was a fair draw in the end.

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