Real Madrid Vs. Barcelona 2011, El Clasico: 10-Man Madrid Come Back To Earn 1-1 Draw

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↵The good people at Madrid had kindly left flags on seats throughout the Bernabeu which when held up turned into a 100ft tall version of the club’s crest. Cool! But that wasn’t the only surprise they had planned - rumour has it that manager Jose Mourinho also had the groundskeeper let the grass on the pitch grow extra-long in a bid to slow down Barcelona’s quick passing game. Whether or not that’s true, Madrid did do a reasonable job of stifling their opposition during the match, ultimately coming back from 1-0 down with ten men and ten minutes left to secure a draw.

The momentum arguably belongs to Real Madrid heading into the Copa Del Rey final if one chooses to look at this game as the first in a season defining series, but what is likely more important is that the La Liga title is now all but mathematically lost.

That probably won’t be enough to get the hosts back into the match, though - although you have to wonder how much Mourinho actually cares at this point. Unless his club gets a win here, the league is lost, and Mourinho doesn’t even have that home record to protect anymore. Real now have bigger fish to fry than one match in the league.

Unsurprisingly, Barcelona have started the half composed and assured in possession while Madrid are dropping off and letting them have the ball, clearly hoping to catch their visitors out on the counterattack. There’s already been a bad foul, with Angel di Maria taking out Dani Alves and not getting the card he deserves. So it’s just like the first half, you’re thinking? Yes, yes it is. Carry on.

It’s been a physical affair over the first 45 minutes of football in El Clasico, and Real Madrid and Barcelona are locked up in a 0-0 draw at halftime. Both teams have had their chances, but a combination of good defense and questionable refereeing has kept the score sheet clean. Barcelona are enjoying their customary majority of the possession, but Real Madrid have looked dangerous at times on the counter-attack, and despite the possession disparity, it would be unfair to say they look like losing or that they are clearly second best.

Though, they probably should be losing, and can thank their lucky stars that the referee didn’t give a penalty kick when Iker Casillas hauled down David Villa in the box in the 26th minute. David Villa wasn’t called for simulation, either, despite his tumble, so it’s hard to know exactly what the referee was looking at. It was a situation where the official had to give a penalty or book Villa for diving; a no-call was not an option. A no-call is exactly what happened, and Gerard Pique was booked for voicing his displeasure at the lack of a call to the referee.

Whenever Barcelona press forward, however, they’re opening up space on the Madrid left for Angel di Maria to exploit. Dani Alves is pushing far too high up the pitch, and di Maria is doing an excellent job working that flank and trying to hit Barcelona on the counterattack. If Real can score, that’s where it will come from, although the next time he tries a shot from eight yards out and an impossible angle Jose Mourinho might kill him.

I’m not posting this to pick on ESPN, because we all make mistakes sometimes, but this is too funny to pass up. Usually I’m still hard at work during the 6 pm ET SportsCenter broadcast, but today is Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday, so I decided to take a break and watch some TV. Imagine my surprise when the ESPN anchors were discussing the upcoming Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Imagine my further surprise when they messed up a graphic.

I’ve been looking all over for a screenshot, and I finally found one that I got permission to use. Funny error after the jump, courtesy of Brooks Peck of Dirty Tackle.