Real Madrid versus http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38605 – Flash points and controversial incidents: UEFA Champions League
The third El Clasico encounter of the 2010/2011 season was littered with various contentious refereeing decisions coupled with some theatrics from players in white as well as red and blue. It wasn’t a classic football match by any means as the tie in itself
had more brawls than Fight Club and Gladiator combined.
Jose Mourinho put out a defensive minded lineup which frustrated the visiting side as they expected Real Madrid to come out and play offensive football at their own home turf. Nonetheless, let’s take a look at which flash points emerged during the course
of the match...
Angel Di Maria starts the fire and Barcelona fuel it
In the 38th minute, Daniel Alves was in the thick of the action as he brought down Angel Di Maria near his team’s penalty area. The replays confirmed what the referee had concluded with his decision as Alves clipped Di Maria’s ankle with a tackle
from behind. The Argentinean winger waved an imaginary card at the referee in order to convince Wolfgang Stark to book Barcelona’s defender.
Alves protested his innocence but the referee under pressure from Real Madrid’s players brandished a yellow card for the Brazilian. It was a typical case of fighting fire with fire for the away side from thereon. Barcelona’s players gathered around the referee
and advocated Alves’ innocence as the Brazilian complimented their coercive practices with some provocative actions of his own.
Daniel Alves gives an http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Oscar-c28720 winning performance
In the 61st minute, Daniel Alves went down in a heap, screaming and clutching his ankle after Real Madrid’s center back http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-c29670 won the ball off the Barcelona full back with a relatively high challenge. Alves made Pepe’s tackle like a murder attempt
using his acting skills learnt only at Sevilla’s youth academy before perfecting them in Guardiola’s guidance.
Not only that, Alves’ performance was amplified by the theatrics pulled off by his supporting cast. Victor Valdes and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Busquets-c33048 who are already contenders for the supporting actor award, hassled the referee into sending the Portuguese defender off
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AS-Real-c38478 went down to ten men.
However, the best was yet to come for the away side. For what seemed like a life threatening injury at first which was inflicted upon the fragile Brazilian full back, Alves experienced divine intervention as he rushed back onto the field following his removal
via a stretcher. With his ankle firmly in place and studs signs nowhere in sight, the con was complete.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Mascherano-c18071
With his team trailing their staunchest rivals by 2-0, Adebayor probably thought that the fastest way to become a cult icon at Santiago Bernabéu was to hack off Mascherano’s head. In his attempt to give action to the Madridistas’ thoughts, Adebayor rushed
towards Barcelona’s defensive midfielder and took him by the neck in order to wrestle the ball off him.
The Togolese striker had a clear intention of beheading the Argentinean midfielder but laws of physics prevented him from doing so. The referee took a lenient view of the incident as he only showed a yellow card to the muscular striker. By this time in the
83rd minute, both the set of players were had just about enough of each other. One set had done their job and the other one had been done in the full extent of the word.
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