MATCH EVENT
Hat trick of Lionel Messi. Messi scored his last goal in the championship on October 15 at the gate of “Seville”. Then the life of the Argentine turned into a non-football history and contained a lot of troubles. In the bar of Rosario's native city of Messi, a crowd of fans began to boil, and the football player was involved in it. Rosario is divided into two fan camps - “Newells” and “Central”, so the situation in the city is always tense. Spending time in such a place for the rising star of world football is an extremely imprudent occupation. Messi got out, but spent considerable nerves. The return of the Argentine to the ranks coincided with the crisis of “Barca”. The effectiveness of the team decreased, and its defense regularly gave shameful failures. Frank Rijkard took Messi to the main team for a long time, at first releasing the Argentine in the middle of the second half. And so on the match against the “Real” Messi came out at the start. Until recently, by the 28th minute of the game, the forward did not even start to warm up, but now by that time he had a double in his account. Messi was not the best on the field, and he got the goals like ripe apples - the most agile boy. Six months reward without sweet fruit.
HERO MATCH
Indigenous Madrid Guti. While Messi was watching the moment, Guti showed how the native Madrid player should play in the “superclassico”. The entire season, “Real”, in fact, dispensed with a full-time designer of the game, and Guti himself in this role was not always good. But now he has surpassed himself. Guti earned a penalty, fought for every inch of Catalan lawn, but more importantly, Guti was the heart of Real Madrid, his pulse. 180 beats per minute, work at maximum speed. We probably have not seen such a Guti. His serve in the 73rd minute ended with an amazing goal by Sergio Ramos. It seemed like a winning goal ... Hat-trick Messi - the effort is certainly heroic, but it was in Guti's actions that was what characterizes the principle of confrontation. If Messi deftly caught falling fruits, then Guti stubbornly shook the tree. So much so that not a single apple was left on the branches.
MATCH FAILURE
Presas Oleger. Frank Rikard decided to surprise Real with a new defense construction. The first half, “Barca” played with three defenders. The central role was most often played by Lilian Thuram. But Barca had no experience of such a game, so the idea of Raikard did not even look like a risk, but a gamble. The Catalans began to “fry” from the first minutes. Tongues of flame flared up in various places - and heroism alone could not be enough to extinguish. Guti simply forced Oleger to foul. So there was a penalty, and the defender of the Catalans was put on the card. The unusual defensive structure plus the quick goals of Real Madrid made Oleger, Puyol and Thuram unnecessarily nervous. Someone had to break loose. Oleg was pulled out of his position, and he rudely and uselessly fouls in the center of the field. Prior to this, in 17 matches Oleger only received “mustard plasters” three times. But the tension of “superclassico” was too strong for the Catalan. Removing Oleger left “Barca” in the minority for a whole half: playing for the victory with Catalans inherent enthusiasm has become much more difficult.
TREND
Football “Barca” and “Real” was so admired that the word “crisis” in relation to the teams now looks like an unfair curse. They showed that they are capable of a champion game. But the triumph of the previous round, “Seville” embarrassed against the harmless “Nastik”. The irony of fate could not pass this match. Javier Portillo, a student of Real Madrid, scored the winning goal. The misfire came out at the “Valencia”. Only in the added time did the “mice” manage to “bounce off” the clever “Osasuna”. As a candidate for Spanish gold, Valencia leaves too mixed an impression. And in connection with league champions matches, the question of safety margin becomes a key one. Does Valencia have it?
But “Barcelona” and “Real”, on the contrary, showed that they are ready for the finish line. The European front is no longer distracting, and the football shown in Superclassico is encouraging. Simultaneously with the final whistle at Camp Nou, a premonition grew stronger: one of them would become the champion - either Barca or Real.
Timur CRANES
BARCELONA - REAL M - 3: 3 (2: 2)
Goals: 0: 1 - van Nistelrooy (5), 1: 1 - Messi (11), 1: 2 - van Nistelrooy (13, penalty), 2: 2 - Messi (28), 2: 3 - Sergio Ramos (73 ), 3: 3 - Messi (90 + 1).
BARCELONA: Valdes, Oleger, Puyol, Thuram, Marquez (Gudjohnsen, 83), Xavi, Iniesta, Deco (Belletti, 72), Messi, Ronaldinho, Eto'o (Silvigno, 46).
REAL : Casillas, Michel Salgado, Sergio Ramos, Ivan Elgera, Curro Torres, Diarra, Gago, Guti (De la Red, 83), Raul (Robinho, 61), Higuain, van Nistelrooy.
Warnings : Oleger (13), Ramos (21), Marquez (29), van Nistelrooy (44), Xavi (45 + 2), Deco (52), Diarra (67), Salgado (72), Gago (90 + 3 )
Removal : Oleger (45, second warning).
March 10th . "Camp Nou". 0.00.
Judge : Undiano Malenko.