Barcelona at Real Madrid: Neymar leads team to 2-1 victory
By Mike Dyce
Sep 10, 2013; Columbus, OH, USA; General view during the game between the United Sates and Mexico at Columbus Crew Stadium. United States won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Barcelona hosted Real Madrid in El Clasico on Saturday. The rivalry is arguably the biggest in all of sports, it is up there with Red Sox-Yankees and Ohio State-Michigan. It is also a game that is no stranger to superstar players. As of late, the match up has been headlined by the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi story line.
Both sides added superstar players this summer. Real Madrid brought in Tottenham Hotspur goalscoring machine Gareth Bale. Barcelona added Brazil’s young soccer prodigy Neymar. Both players started today in their Clasico debut.
Neymar scored first in the game, putting Barcelona ahead early. It was his debut goal in the Clasico rivalry. It is always reassuring for fans to see their big signing succeed on the biggest stages. It was a simple goal, he was at the far corner of the six-yard box and put it on target at the far post. It looks like it was deflected slightly off a Real Madrid players leg, but it gave Barcelona a goal lead in the 18th minute.
Barcelona took that 1-0 lead into the half.
Later in the game, Madrid was trying to get on the board to even the game. They had a few chances and were thwarted by some quality saves. Karim Benzema struck a beautiful ball around the 70th minute that beat the keeper but rattled off the cross bar. You could hear it through the television it hit the bar that hard.
Cristiano Ronaldo was headed into the box when he got a shove in the back that sent him to the ground. Ronaldo thought he should’ve been sent to the spot for a penalty kick, but didn’t get the call.
Barcelona found the back of the net again. Alexis Sánchez got the ball on a run by himself and found himself one-on-one with a Madrid defender. He ends up going to the right and chips in a ball from outside the penalty box in an absolutely beautiful strike. That gave Barcelona a 2-0 lead in the 78th minute.
Real Madrid scored in the 90th minute but it was too little too late.