Abidal gives Barcelona the advantage

Eric Abidal’s second half winner saw Barcelona come from behind to take a 2-1 lead in their Copa Del Ray quarter final with Real Madrid.

Real Madrid had opened the scoring early on through Cristiano Ronaldo only for Barca captain Carlos Puyol to head a deserved equaliser moments into the second half. And with time running out, Pep Guardiola’s side won it as Abidal found space in the Madrid penalty area and guided his finish past Iker Casillas.

For the second consecutive time Barcelona came from behind to extend their incredible form in this match under Guardiola and their victory loosens Real’s grip on their only trophy in the Jose Mourinho era.

Pepe was again given a midfield role in the ‘El Clasico’ by Mourinho as Ricardo Carvalho, appearing in the white of Real for the first time since September, partnered Sergio Ramos in the heart of Madrid’s defence.

Despite being on the back foot for most of the opening exchanges, Real opened the scoring through their likeliest of sources. Benzema did brilliantly to find the recently maligned Ronaldo and the Portuguese international smashed home through the legs of Pinto. Ronaldo’s strike was hard; however Pinto should’ve dealt with the effort, as Pep Guardiola’s decision to rotate his keeping options back-fired.

Moments later Alexis Sanchez almost levelled for Barcelona as he headed against the bar. Andres Iniesta’s cross was perfect for Sanchez and his header had Iker Casillas beaten, only to bounce back of the frame of the goal.

Unsurprisingly the game followed its usual theme of Barcelona attack up against a stern Real defence as the likes of Xavi and Cesc Fabregas controlled the game from the midfield area.

Iniesta missed his sides best chance in the first half, shooting wide when well placed. Xavi found Alexis Sanchez with room in the penalty area, and the former Udinese man unselfishly passed to Iniesta; however the World Cup winner’s first touch was poor, ensuring the shooting angle was narrow and Ramos’s saving lunge was enough to put Iniesta off who put wide.

Half time came and went and it wasn’t long before Barcelona converted their pressure into an impact on the score line. Barcelona’s seventh corner of the match was superbly headed home by Puyol. The captain of the Catalan giants lost Pepe and gave Casillas no chance with a brilliant finish.

Benzema nearly gave the holders their lead back but the former Lyon man’s header, from a great Hamit Altintop cross, clipped the post and went wide.

Sergio Busquests really should’ve completed the comeback but somehow headed over when it looked easier to score.

Pepe and Busquests continued the games trend of bad sportsmanship, with both regular offenders playing acting far too much. Pepe in particular embarrassed himself after making out Fabregas had caught him with a stray elbow, despite replays showing the contact, if any, was minimal.

If Real Madrid’s opener was from a predictable source then Barca’s winner couldn’t have been more unlikely as Abidal gave Barcelona a deserved lead. Lionel Messi, who by his standards has a quiet evening, found space on a rare occasion, before threading a beautiful pass through for the rampaging Abidal, who finished well past Casillas.

With Barcelona ahead, Madrid players lost their cool and Carvalho was fortunate on two occasions not to see red. Firstly the former Chelsea defender hacked away at Messi and got a yellow card for his troubles; though on another day he could’ve seen red for a deliberate and crude foul. And in injury time Carvalho clearly fouled the sub Adriano, yet his mister mina went unpunished as Real avoided going down to ten men, but didn’t avoid defeat.

Real Madrid

Casillas 6                                                      

Altintop 7                               

Carvalho 6                             

Ramos 7

Coentrao 6

Diarra 6 (Ozil 5)    
Pepe 6 (Granero 5)        
Alonso 6                                 

Benzema 6                         
Higuain 5 (Callejon 5)                    
Ronaldo 7


Barcelona
Pinto 5
Alves 6
Puyol 7
Pique 6
Abidal 7
Xavi 7 (Thiago 5)
Busquests 6
Fabregas 8 (Cuenca 5)

Sanchez 7 (Adriano 5)
Messi 6
Iniesta 6

  

European round up

Spain
Barcelona lost for the first time this season, as Getafe stunned their illustrious rivals with a defensively strong performance in a 1-0 victory. Defeat for Barca, means they now trail Real Madrid by six points after Jose Mourinho's side won the Madrid derby 4-1.

A Valera header won the game for Getafe, as Barcelona without Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Puyol failed to break down their opponents.

Just hours before two Cristiano Ronaldo penalties helped Real extend their lead at the top of the table. Atletico had opened the scoring through Adrian just 15 minutes in; however their joy was short lived as Thibaut Courtois, the man on loan from Chelsea, was sent off in conceding a penalty.

Ronaldo levelled from the spot, and after that Real really made their extra man count, as further goals from Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and a second penalty from Ronaldo. The second penalty award saw Atletico go down to nine men as Diego Godin was shown his marching orders for a second yellow card.

Inigo Martinez scored an incredible winner from his own half for Real Sociedad as they edged an incredible match 3-2 against Real Betis, whose poor run extended to nine games without a win.

Big spending Malaga take on the injury hit Villarreal tonight.

La Liga results
Mallorca 2 Racing Santander 1
Athletic Bilbao 0 Granada 1
Zaragoza 0 Sevilla 1
Levante 4 Sporting Gijon 0
Rayo Vallecano 1 Valencia 2
Espanyol 1 Osasuna 2



Germany
Bayern relinquished top spot of the Bundesliga as a second consecutive defeat saw the Munich giants slip to third. The Austrian Andreas Ivanschitz opened the scoring before Daniel Van Buyten scored his first of the game to level the game.

However Mainz were the better side, and two quick goals from Marco Caligiuri and Niko Bungert gave the relegation threatened side breathing space. A second Van Buyten goal wasn’t enough as Bayern’s poor form continued.

The surprise package Borussia Monchengladbach went top of the Bundesliga, all be it only for a short time, after a comprehensive 3-0 away victory against Koln on Friday. Last year’s champions Dortmund regained the spot on goal difference with a comfortable 2-0 home win against Schalke. Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Felipe Santana ensured they took full advantage of Bayern’s Sunday slip up.


Italy

Juventus extended their unbeaten start to eleven games with an impressive 1-0 away win at Lazio. Simone Pepe's 34th minute winner gave the Turin side their seven win of the season as victory saw them replace Udinese at the top of the table. Juventus face Napoli next in a re-arranged fixture as the game was postponed due to flooding recently, and the match will no doubt test Conte's side title credentials.

Flying in Europe, struggling at home, that’s the scenario Napoli are in currently. With just four wins in 11 games this league campaign, Walter Mazzarri's side are struggling, and were fortunate to leave the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia with a point, as Edison Cavani's late goal ensured the game finished 1-1. Atalanta have done brilliantly this year, and if they had started the season without a six point deduction, they would sit an impressive fifth place.

Elsewhere in Italy A.C Milan romped to a 4-0 win over Cheivo, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring his 100th Serie A goal in the process. All four strikes came in a dominant first half. Thiago Silva, a double from Ibrahimovic and an Alexander Pato strike meant Milan went second for the first time this season. A.C's city rivals Inter Milan, won back-to-back league games for the first time this season as Luc Castaignos's 90th minute winner stole the points from Siena.

Serie A results

Udinese 2 Roma 0
Leece 0 Catania 1
Novara 2 Parma 1
Cagliari 1 Bologna 1
Cesena 2 Genoa 0
Palermo 2 Fiorentina 0

La Liga round up

After looking at the first week of the 2011-12 Serie A season, here is a little piece on the second week of La Liga.

Real Sociedad fought back brilliantly, with two quick fire second half goals, to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw against the La Liga and European Champions Barcelona.

Barcelona started fantastically and were two up inside the first 11 minutes with goals from midfielders Xavi and Cesc Fabregas. However the Catalan giants failed to extend their lead through a combination of missed chances and good goalkeeping from Claudio Bravo and they were made to pay as Sociedad levelled the game through two headed goals from Imanol Agirretxe and Antoine Griezmann.

Malaga won their first game of the season as they comprehensively overcame a poor Granada side. Santi Cazorla and Joaquin both scored twice in a 4-0 victory.

Cazorla opened the scoring when Grenada were slow to realise a slow corner. The former Villarreal man recieved the ball on the edge of the box and his left footed effort wasn't the strongest of shots, however it had enough to beat Roberto in the Granada goal.

A second goal wasn't long in coming and a Joaquin header doubled their lead in the 25th minute. Cazorla gave the ball to an on rushing Jesus Gamez whose beautiful cross was headed in superbly by Joaquin, with a header his goalscoring centre forward team mate Ruud Van Nistelrooy would've been proud of.

Cazorla scored a beautiful free kick last week in defeat to Sevilla and the Euro 2008 winner scored his second set piece of the season to make it 3-0. Cazorla opted to place his free kick under the jumping Granada wall, and despite it not being the cleanest of strikes, the goalkeeper was beaten.

Cazorla was in superb form and he assisted Joaquin for their final goal with a chipped past through for the former Valencia player, who volleyed home to complete a comfortable victory for the newly financed club.

Cazorla was in fantastic form in Malaga's 4-0 victory

Valencia overcome Atheltico Madrid 1-0 thanks to a Roberto Soldado winner early in the second half. Athletico have struggled to adapt to life without Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan and haven't scored in either of their opening games. Falcao, their summer signing from Porto, has struggled to adapt to life in Spain so far, however the Colombian will come good.  Valencia however have started the season well again with back to back victories, with Soldado in goalscoring form.

Real Madrid continued their 100% winning start to the season with Karim Benezema scoring twice in their 4-2 win over Getafe. The Frenchman opened the scoring in the first half, finishing off a lovely team goal with a superb finish after Mesut Ozil's slided pass. Miku beat the Real Madrid offside trap to level the game with a smart finish past Iker Cassilas to ensure the underdogs went in at half time level. A Cristiano Ronaldo penalty put Real back in front before Benzema extended Madrid's lead. Miku scored his second of the game to keep them in game. However Gonzalo Higuain ensured Real wouldn't be caught with a smart finish late on.

Elsewhere in Spain Sevilla scored late on to rescue a point against the 10 men of Villarreal who nearly pulled of a shock win as Diego Lopez, the Villarreal keeper was sent off after 21 minutes. Alvaro Negredo missed the resulting penalty, however the striker tapped in the rebound. Guissepi Rossi levelled the scores with a well taken penalty. Marco Ruben ensured Villarreal came from behind to take the lead with a great finish from a tight angel, however they couldnt hold on as an Alexis header crept past the former Spurs keeper Cesar.