Catalancs wrote:...and if the ref had given yellow cards for any of the 5 knee high tackles on messi in the first 10 minutes, and if eto'o had put the penalty away, and if alves had laid the ball back to xavi who was waiting on the edge of the box instead of crossing it straight to casillas, and if....
regardless, I think Richard makes a good point. Drenthe ballsed it up and that would have made a huge difference had he scored.
I take my hat off to Barcelona and Pep Guardiola. In the first 20 minutes they played some great football and Real Madrid responded with unsurprising yet class-less bully boy tactics. Messi in particular targeted. They weathered it and merited their victory. I though Thierry Henry, so often someone who at Arsenal did not 'turn up' on the big occasions, was exceptional last night. Held the ball up superbly and linked with the midfielders very well. An excellent performance and honourable mentions to Yaya Toure, Messi and Rafa Marquez at the back. Even when Eto'o missed the penalty you still felt like the game was far from over and it was inconceivable the game would finish 0-0.
On the other hand, I think it was not a bad display from El Real. Their patched-up back four coped very well for large parts of the game - Metzelder and Cannavaro, considering how little they've played together this season, I thought were good value. Ramos at left back wasn't bad either. The midfield let them down though. I have said it before and I am going to keep saying it, Fernando Gago is gash. I know he is only playing because of injuries, but IMO Ramos needs to give Javi Garcia a run-out. Anythings better than Gago. He gives the ball away so often I lost count.
Top game, great atmosphere and Barcelona now look imperious. It is hard not to tempt fate by saying it is their title to lose. I doubt Real can come back from this, the only team I see challenging Barcelona now is Villarreal but they don't have the squad depth Barca do.
