It’s advantage Pep Guardiola, advantage Barcelona and advantage Lionel Messi after the Catalans beat Real Madrid 2-0 in the Spanish capital last night.
The first half hour was little more than a case of Barcelona keeping possession and Real chasing shadows, all played at a slow tempo. A couple of poor challenges changed all that though and there was even an altercation by the tunnel at half-time which resulted in Barca’s substitute keeper Jose Pinto being dismissed without taking to the field.
The second-half opened up and there were chances for both sides but one moment changed the course of the tie as Portuguese international Pepe was dismissed for a late lunge on Daniel Alves. The decision looked a harsh one and insult was added to injury when Jose Mourinho was also sent to the stands for his reaction to the red card. Bad things come in threes though and when Lionel Messi scored with a flick at the near post after good work on the right, Real were in deep trouble. Messi was matched at 6.6 on Betfair to open the scoring and though this was far from being a virtuoso performance, he left his mark on this match while Real’s star – Cristiano Ronaldo – was largely anonymous. Messi added a second after a fine solo run and Real are left with a huge mountain to climb. Even Jose Mourinho looked like he’d lost belief at the end of the match.
Barcelona were matched at 4.2 to win the match and at 28.0 to win by a 2-0 scoreline. They’re in the exact same position as Manchester United are, who also won the first leg 2-0 away from home, but the Betfair market is much sweeter on Barcelona and makes them 1.6 favourites to United’s 2.84.
