An unbelievable display by Barcelona tonight at the Nou Camp saw Barca hammer Madrid 5-0. Barca were absolutely stunning from start to finish with Messi lobbing Casillas in the 6th minute only for the ball to hit the post. It didn't take long to break the deadlock however, with Xavi netting in the 10th minute after an incredible through ball from Iniesta. It was a little bit lucky but Xavi was the epitome of cool, as he lobbed the ball over Casillas. Madrid were an absolute mess with no one willing to get close to Barca's players to stop them controlling the play. Barca seemed to have a spare man on the wing every time and so it was for the second goal when after a flowing move involving 28 passes, David Villa cut inside Sergio Ramos to smash the ball across the face of goal where Pedro met it to put Barca in control.
The game began to get a little heated as Madrid's players began to lose their heads; Ronaldo pushed Guardiola for not giving the ball back quick enough with Valdes running 50 yards to confront him. Both players were booked. David Villa was then booked for a poor tackle as Barca began to lose their cool too. A ridiculous moment followed, as Carvalho seemed to elbow Messi in the face. The referee decided to book Messi. A terrible decision. Any other game and Carvalho would have been off. Half time came at a good time for Barca so that Guardiola could cool everyone down.
The second half began at the same incredible pace and within 10 minutes they were 3 up. David Villa stayed onside to latch onto a Messi pass and curl a shot beyond Casillas. Three minutes later and the game was over. Madrid were caught upfield and Messi again found Villa who prodded the ball through the legs of the onrushing Casillas. Madrid were hopeless. Ronaldo was a disgrace. Instead of rolling up his sleeves and helping his team, he stood with his hands on his hips and mouthed out of him. Messi (who still hasn't scored against a Mourinho team) was incredible, regularly strolling passed 2 and 3 players and setting up 2 goals. Madrid began to get incredibly dirty with Alonso, Arbeloa and Diarra guilty of leaving the boot in. Another ludicrous decision followed when Carvalho deliberately handled the ball denying Pedro his second goal. The ref only booked him. Maybe he felt sorry for Madrid.
It was to get worse for Madrid. Bojan ended up in acres of space on the wing and hammered the ball across the face of the goal to Jeffren who scored the fifth goal of the night. As usual Sergio Ramos let his team down with a moment of complete stupidity. He seemed to punch Puyol and shoved Xavi in the face after a mass melee broke out when Messi was scythed for the umpteenth time.
Mourinho has a huge amount of work to do with this Madrid team if they are to win anything. The reason why Barca are so successful is because they work so hard for the team. Even David Villa was back making tackles. Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria and Benzema just couldn't be bothered. Messi is so brilliant because he wants the team to win. Again, he's back getting tackles in, he'll set up players who are in better positions, his passing was exceptional. Ronaldo was the exact opposite. Even his passing was horrendous tonight. Although i could go on about how dreadful Madrid were all night, the brilliance of Barcelona should not be under-sold.
Barcelona put in one of the greatest displays of football you will ever see. Their passing was exceptional, their ball retention was perfection and they tore their rivals apart at will. Even Puyol, Pique and Abidal played extremely well. Madrid didn't even have a chance at goal. It was important that they kept their heads just before half-time and Guardiola did his job well to cool everyone down. The video of this game should be played to kids as an example of how to play football. It's everything that the likes of Arsenal want to be but aren't. It is complete football at it's best. I actually think that this is the best footballing team ever.
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