Cristiano Ronaldo Powers Real Madrid past FC Barcelona
26 Feb, 2013
Cristiano Ronaldo got the better of Lionel Messi on Tuesday, scoring twice to lead Real Madrid to a 3-1 win at Barcelona and a spot in the Copa del Rey final.
After salvaging a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Madrid neutralized Barcelona’s passing game and counterattacked to perfection at the Camp Nou to hand its archrival its first home loss in any competition since last April.
“We played a great game,” Ronaldo said. “We faced the game with a serious attitude, played better and scored three goals, which is tough to do.”
It was also a second straight cup setback for the Catalan club, which is running away with the Spanish league but lost 2-0 at AC Milan in the first leg of its Champions League last-16 matchup.
While Messi had a quiet night, Ronaldo scored for a sixth straight visit to Camp Nou when he earned and converted a penalty in the 13th minute. Ronaldo hit again on the break in the 57th before Raphael Varane got his second goal of the series in the 68th to turn a convincing win into a rout.
Defender Jordi Alba scored late for Barcelona, but it was much too late to prevent Madrid from advancing 4-2 on aggregate. Madrid will play either Atletico Madrid or Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on May 18.
After struggling in his first encounters with Barcelona, Ronaldo has become a nemesis for the Catalan club by scoring goals that have directly contributed to them losing titles the past three seasons.
Besides ending Barcelona’s cup defense this campaign, Ronaldo scored here to dethrone Barcelona as league champions last season – after also netting the winning header against Barcelona in the 2011 cup final.
While Ronaldo put on one of his most memorable performances since joining Madrid, Messi couldn’t keep up as the opposing defense again surrounded him and his teammates never picked up the slack. For Barcelona, it was their worst defeat at the hands of its fierce rival since losing 4-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu in 2008.
AP
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