Important victory for Real Madrid which finally manages, along with their Coach Ancelotti, to win this season their maximum rival in Spanish & World Soccer. Horror 10 days for FC Barcelona which string together three losses ( Champions League, Liga game & Spanish Cup Final), something unheard off in the past 5 years.
Overall the victory was deserved by Real Madrid which had created far more chances of goal although FC Barcelona forward Neymar hit the post in the 90th min which if it had gone in would have been the equalizer & who knows, maybe a different ending to this story. But thats Football, tonight Real Madrid had luck smiling on them because they looked for it all match.
Intense match as expected with two differing styles; Barça dominating the ball & Real Madrid taking advantage of the spaces left in the Barça midfielder to counter-attack. The first goal came from Real Madrid when Di Maria scored in the 11th min.
From here & onwards Barcelona looked to react & equalize but Real Madrid defensively was solid & very concentrated. The Real Madrid defenders Pepe, Ramos, Carvajal & Coentrao, with the help of a tireless Isco & Di Maria totally neutralized Lionel Messi & Neymar who was tonight the great disappointment. The Brazilian is still very young & he would have learnt tonight, but he was a shadow, to which many will critise Barça Coach Martino for not putting on Pedro earlier or from the start.
FC Barcelona is undoubtedly a great team & they managed to comeback to equalize against the grain when Real Madrid was continuously ripping the Barça defence apart. From a Xavi corner young Barça defender Bartra headed a magnificent goal in the 69th min that brought back his team to life.
But in the 85th min, perhaps the moment of the Spanish Cup Final, when Gareth Bale picked up a ball on the left flank & while pushed over the line accelerated to reach the ball to run 50 mts & score the winner. Amazing effort that gives the Welshman a piece of Real Madrid history & a dream come true for the winger. Real Madrid then held out & won this seasons Kings Cup.
To finish, one can say that we may have witnessed the end of the "Greatest Football Team in World Football" ever seen. FC Barcelona will harshly & perhaps unjustly receive a storm of severe criticism the next coming days that will force radical changes for next season. One of those changes is the end of Coach Gerardo Martino who everyone speculates will not continue next season. There after, a series of players, ranging from Alves, Xavi, Pinto, Pedro & even Messi, are under speculation of perhaps leaving as the Club looks to bring in "fresh blood" for next season. One of those, Lionel Messi, is being criticised for "saving himself" for the World Cup as his performances in the last few matches have been unusually poor. I personally doubt this from the professional, but...
Said all this, what if the Neymar ball in the 90th min had gone in instead of hitting the post?
Congratulations to Real Madrid.
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