Real Madrid versus Barcelona 2-2, a showdown of strength

The first La Liga Clasico of this season: Real Madrid versus Barcelona, Messi versus Ronaldo.

That was not just a battle between the two strongest clubs, a challenging game that was a head-to-head contest of two strongest footballers, Messi and Ronaldo.

All the fans are still in expectation of the Ballon d’Or award, as that match was to put everything into perspective, but it is still not possible to anticipate who will be the best.

José Mourinho said: ‘Talks about who is the best player in the world should be banned, because these two are so good.’

In spite of larger share of possession, Barcelona were unlucky to give the start as it was Ronaldo who netted a low strike past Valdes on the 23rd minute. Real Madrid went on attacking and were close to score one more but failed. The Catalan giants didn’t stay aside and made the game hot as Messi found the net with 31 minutes past Iker Casillas, equalizing the score.

In the second half Barca took the lead via Messi, who netted from the free kick in the left corner but just in five minutes Ronaldo snatched his second of the night. So the thriller at the Nou Camp ended a 2-2 draw.

Tito Vilanova’s side had troubles in defense, missing Carles Puyol with a dislocated elbow and Gerard Pique with Javier Mascherano with Adriano playing in central defense. That was a chance to Real Madrid but nevertheless they preserved their eight-point deficit behind Barcelona, who was placed along with Atlético Madrid with the same number of points.

Atlético Madrid narrowly overwhelmed Málaga CF 2-1 due to Weligton’s unfortunate mistake as he slotted the ball into his own net right at the very last moment. Radamel Falcao notched his eighth La Liga goal this season giving his side the lead after six minutes from the start and Roque Santa Cruz equalized netting a header in half an hour.

The other La Liga weekend results:

Celta 2-0 Sevilla
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Deportivo La Coruña
Zaragoza 0-1 Getafe
Valladolid 1-1 Espanyol
Betis 2-0 Real Sociedad
Levante UD 1-0 Valencia
Mallorca 1-2 Granada
Athletic de Bilbao 1-0 Osasuna