Barcelona versus Real Madrid – Second half review: UEFA Champions League (Part 1)
After a first half which was dominated in possession and goal mouth chances by Barcelona, Real Madrid kicked off the second half in fine fashion as the men in white scored within the first two minutes.
Controversy struck at Nou Camp when the referee ruled out the goal due to a foul by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 in the buildup to the goal.
The Portuguese winger went past http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Pique but he was pulled to the ground by the Spanish defender. Ronaldo’s fall caught Javier Mascherano’s heel as the Argentinean went down to the ground as well after the ball had been played through for Gonzalo Higuain.
The referee decided to blow his whistle for the foul on Mascherano rather than for Pique’s trip on Ronaldo and thus the goal was ruled out.
Real Madrid protested with the referee as Jose Mourinho’s assistant manager spoke to the fourth official about the legitimacy of the goal and the referee’s eventual decision but the match official’s decision was not changed as the score line remained at
0-0 at Nou Camp.
In the 50th minute, Ronaldo was in the thick of the action once again as he played a sublime through-pass towards Gonzalo Higuain.
This time Higuain was not allowed to get to the ball as Puyol intercepted and cleared the ball away.
In the 53rd minute, Higuain found himself in space just outside the Barcelona penalty area. The Real Madrid striker decided to try his luck at Barcelona’s goal despite having options in shape of Ricardo Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo on his left hand
side.
Nonetheless, the Argentinean goal-scorer was off the mark with his eventual effort which went well wide of Victor Valdes’ goal.
However disaster struck for Real Madrid in the 54th minute. Andres Iniesta showcased tremendous vision when he picked out Pedro Rodriguez with a defence splitting through ball.
Barcelona’s young forward confidently dispatched the ball past the on-rushing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Iker-Casillas-c16815 as Barcelona took a 1-0 lead on the night and a 3-0 lead on aggregate, taking into account their 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg at Santiago Bernabéu.
Immediately after Pedro Rodriguez’s goal, Real Madrid opted to make their first change of the night and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Emmanuel-Adebayor-c12526 came on for Gonzalo Higuain.
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