TheSportsCampus

The words 'Groundhog Day' would have appropriately filled the air around the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night as Barcelona inflicted further pain on Real Madrid. The 1st leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals began brightly for the home side as Cristiano Ronaldo silenced his critics with a clinically taken goal in the 11th minute.

But it was the Catalan show after that as the Pep Guardiola's men slowly but eventually broke-down a defensive Madrid side. Carles Puyo levelled proceedings from a corner on 49 minutes before Eric Abidal got the winner in the 77th minute. A one goal lead isn't comprehensive going into the 2nd leg, but Barca will be more than confident of protecting it at the Nou Camp in a week's time.

Jose Mourinho surprised the watching world by bringing Ricardo Carvalho and Hamit Altintop into his back-four as they set out with an uber-defensive line-up. Carvalho and Sergio Ramos formed the central defensive partnership while Altintop and Fabio Coentrao filled in as full-backs. Pepe was drafted into midfield and was entrusted with breaking up Barca's play along with Lassana Diarra while Xabi Alonso sat deep. Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema started in a three-pronged attack along with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Pep Guardiola also had a surprise up his sleeve as Jose Pinto started in goal instead of Victor Valdes. The rest of the line-up was as expected though, with Carles Puyol, Gerald Pique, Dani Alves and Eric Abidal completing the defence. Sergio Busquets shielded the back-four while Xavi Hernandez & Andres Iniesta formed the creative fulcrum. The imposing front-three comprised of Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez.

The presence of Pepe and Diarra in front of Madrid's back-four made it hard for Barca to find a way through. Despite holding a lot of possession around the halfway mark, their moves broke down a few yards from Madrid's box. It was one such event that lead to the opening goal as Benzema picked up the ball after a Barca move broke down and fed Ronaldo down the left. The Portuguese star then raced past Pique and Alves before striking the ball through Pinto's legs with his left-foot. Like the La Liga game last month, Madrid had taken the lead.

But just like the La Liga game, Barcelona launched wave after wave of attacks after going behind. Iker Casillas was Madrid's hero for the rest of the half as he repeatedly kept out the Catalans. The woodwork came to the home side's rescue first as Sanchez's header from Fabregas' cross looped onto the crossbar. Iniesta was then guilty of spurning two good chances as he saw his first shot saved by Casillas before failing to get his feet sorted out in a good position.

All that pressure finally paid-off four minutes after the break as Puyol found himself unmarked in the centre of the box from a corner and the Barca captain made no mistake as he swooped down to head the ball past Casillas. Madrid reacted to losing their lead by almost snatching it back four minutes later as Benzema rattled the post with a bullet of a header from Altintop's cross.

Mourinho brought on Mesut Ozil and Jose Maria Callejon as he went in search of a winner. But chances were hard to come by as the game progressed, with Busquets' misplaced header from a free-kick the only chance of note. But just as it seemed like the midfield attrition would lead to a draw, Messi pulled one out of the hat to set Barca on their way to victory.

Barcelona were enjoying typical possession on the edge of Madrid's penalty box and with plenty of men behind the ball, the home side were in a comfortable position defensively. Messi received the ball in the centre and as he weighed his options, Altintop made his decision easy by ball-watching and allowing Abidal to ghost in. Messi then lobbed the ball over the entire Madrid defence and the left-back took a touch before poking the ball past Casillas for the winner.

Madrid have once again suffered at the hands of their arch-rivals as Mourinho's tactical plans were crushed by the sheer quality of this Barca line-up. The 'Special One' has played a similar negative line-up before and has even set out an offensive team against the best club in the world, but the end result has been the same. Barcelona have already beaten Los Blancos thrice this season and unless Mourinho can mastermind a victory of immense proportion at the Nou Camp next week, Barca are headed towards the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

Teams:

Real Madrid: Casillas (Gk), Altintop, Carvalho, Ramos, Coentrao, Pepe (Granero 80'), Diarra (Ozil 66'), Alonso, Ronaldo, Higuain (Callejon 66'), Benzema

Barcelona: Pinto (Gk), Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi (Thiago 86') , Iniesta, Sanchez (Adriano 82'), Fabregas (Cuenca 89'), Messi

Final Score: Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona

Goals: Ronaldo 11', Puyol 49', Abidal 77'