The crew from Barca may be getting older and the trajectory of their glory may no longer be floating higher, but tonight in the second leg of the Spanish cup, they showed resilience and poise against archrivals, Real Madrid, finishing the first half of the match 2-0. The assassination of Messi still appears to be a goal in these matches as the Argentinian took ferocious hits more than once, particularly after setting up the initial Barcelona goal. The intensity of the match was easily revealed when the cameras focused on C. Ronaldo having apoplectic fits as that goal was scored. Not that only Barca's side suffered injury and insult. There were hard tackles and disappointments on both ends. This classico inevitably draws such intensity, such focus.
And what happens? with scarcely twenty minutes left, Real comes back. C. Ronaldo scores one. And three minutes later Real knocks in another. No question of the intensity of this battle. At 80 minutes , Messi is dragged down with the ball on the attack, again. The free kick? Just over the bar. 90 minutes in Barca mounts an attack ending in a header on goal. A minute later Dani Alves is slammed down and another yellow is thrown. Interesting that many of these guys play together on the national team. Is that great? Warriors who can battle fiercely for each other and yet battle against each other as well.
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