It was the night of stars at Camp Nou on Tuesday where two arch rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other in the Spanish league Copa del Rey’s semifinal. The match was more belonged to two of the best soccer talents of contemporary football: Messi and Rolando, and Ronaldo proved his edge over Messi by scoring two goals while Messi could not score even a single goal. Madrid defeated Barcelona by a comprehensive margin of 3-1 which is their best over Barcelona since 2008 when they defeated them by 4-1. Madrid will now play either Atletico Madrid or Sevilla in the final on 18th May. Barca indeed lost its first home match in any league since last April which also shows the strength of Madrid’s power play. The highlight of the match was Rolando who scored via a penalty in the 13th minute and again in 57th minute. Sweeper Raphael Varane’s header finished the tally with another goal in the 68th minute; it was his second in the league. Jordi Alba showed some resistance in the last few moments and scored one goal for Barca, but it was too late by then to equalize a big lead.
The game was actually dominated by Barca; perhaps they hold the ball more than Madrid, but when they trailed by 2-0, it became clear that they can’t stop their arch rival entering into the finals. It was the fifth loss for Barca in last ten played games which is now growing up as a serious concern for them. Actually, they are missing their head coach who is being treated for his throat cancer in US. In his absence, assistant coach Jordi Roura is leading them who has won five matches, lost three, and equalized three as well under his regime. Before start of the match, Barca was the favorite to win, Bookies were offering 7/10 odds in its favor while Madrid was only having 10/3, but scenario changed very soon after Madrid took the initial lead.
Madrid captain Iker Casillas praised Ronaldo’s role in this victory, he said, “Ronaldo is our reference. He’s vital for us. He has shown how good he is not just today but in other `clasico’ matches. He is on a great run right now and we have to try and get the most out of it.” Barcelona will not have to wait longer to take revenge as they will soon face Madrid again in Liga España on Saturday.