Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid: Heavy blow for Barça

Posted by: neydmin Posted date: April 16, 2014 In: Neymar news | comment : 0

Full-time: Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid
Goals: Di María (11′), Bartra (68′), Gareth Bale (85′)
Match date: April 16, 2014
Stadium: Mestalla
Competition: Copa del Rey
Barcelona line-up: Pinto, Jordi Alba, Mascherano, Bartra, Daniel Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta, Neymar, Lionel Messi.

Barcelona are now on a 3-game losing streak and after saying goodbye to the Champions League a week ago, this time they saw the Spanish King’s Cup being snatched by their arch-rivals, Real Madrid. Tato Martino didn’t have an easy job in coming up with a solid back four to line-up against the Merengues, mainly because 3 of the club’s centre defenders were struggling with injuries (Piqué, Puyol and Bartra). He ended up taking a risk by picking Bartra and it didn’t pay off as he expected in the end…

Unlike what had happened in the last Clasico for La Liga, this Wednesday night neither Neymar nor Messi never really managed to upset Real Madrid‘s defense.

The opener came in around the 11th minute of the first half and it was unsurprisingly scored by Real Madrid, through a fast counter-attack. Isco, Bale and Benzema combined extremelly well near the midfield line and it the Frenchman ended up assisting Angel Di María for a great run behind Barça‘s defense. The Argentina international had Jorbi Alba chasing him, but somehow managed to find enough room for his left-foot shot and got to beat Pinto in the far post.

Barcelona equalized the game later in the second half, after a corner-kick taken by Xavi that Bartra superbly seized to head past Iker Casillas. The Spanish defender had escaped Pepe‘s marking and with a very accurate header he left very few chances for Casillas to even reach out to the ball.

The decisive moment of the night took place in the 85th minute though, when Gareth Bale and Marc Bartra found themselves racing against each other near the left side line. The Real Madrid winger showed off his great speed and sprinting abilities and had no trouble in leaving a physically limited Bartra behind him. Bale then sent the ball through Pinto‘s legs and delivered the victory and Cup to Real Madrid. Neymar still had a chance to send the game into extra-time, but saw his shot hitting one of the posts and the rebound going straight to Iker Casillas‘s hands.

Barcelona will now have to focus in La Liga and they’ll already meet Athletic Bilbao this Sunday, in the Camp Nou.

Sources: fcbarcelona.com / theguardian.com