Barcelona and Real Madrid ended with a draw of 2-2 in the first El Clasico of the new La Liga season. Two key players from each team, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, both scored twice in the thrilling game at Camp Nou.
Prior to the match, Barcelona was still without its two centre-backs, Carles Puyol as well as Gerard Pique. As a result, the manager Tito Vilanova decided to put fullback Adriano and Javier Macherano in the defense position. Real Madrid has already lost two of its six league matches, which equaled the total number of games lost last season, as they won the La Liga with a recording breaking of 100 points.
Real Madrid first opened the score on 23 minutes, when Karim Benzema first controlled the ball with his back to goal before turning and passing the ball to Ronaldo down the left. Barcelona fullback Daniel Alves failed to react quickly enough and Ronaldo scored with a left-footed shot. The Portugal captain became the first and only player to score in 6 consecutive El Clasico's.
Barcelona equalized just after three minutes with the help of Madrid's defender mix-up. Pedro sent in a cross from the right, which bounced off Sergio Ramos and then Xabi Alonso. Pepi did not manage to clear the ball away with his mis-timed header and Messi coolly poked the ball into the net.
In the second half, Messi helped Barcelona to extend the lead by sending a 25-yard free-kick into the top right hand corner. But Real Madrid put the score on level in only four minutes later, when Mesut Ozil played a through ball to unmarked Ronalso, who faced the opponent keeper Victor Valdes one-on-one and calmly finished the goal.
Both Messi and Ronaldo came close to scoring their respective hat-tricks, but their amazing goal scoring statistics simply proved why they are widely considered as the biggest stars in their teams. Since joining Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009, Ronaldo has scored 160 goals in 155 games, while Messi has scored a stunning 169 goals in 155 games. At the same time, the two of them are currently joint top goalscorers in the La Liga with 8 goals, together with Atlético Madrid's striker Radamel Falcao.Barcelona still remains the top of the league table with 19 points, while Real Madrid is at 5th with 11 points.
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