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Barcelona destroys Real Madrid (Updated with highlights)

Xavi (Getty Images)

It was supposed to be a battle of the two best teams in the world, but by the end of it, only one team looked like a world beater.

Barcelona savaged Real Madrid, ripping apart Jose Mourinho's normally stingy defense on the strength of the sharp passing of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Goals from Xavi, Pedro, David Villa (with two) and Jeffren buried Real Madrid, 5-0, handing Mourinho the worst loss of his managerial career.

Real Madrid simply couldn't keep up with Barcelona's precision passing, with Xavi opening the scoring off a great feed from Iniesta. Messi blew the match open with a pair of pin-point passes finished off by Villa. By the time Jeffren added a fifth, Real Madrid was coming apart at the seams. Sergio Ramos was sent off after an ugly challenge on Messi followed by a shove to the face of Spain teammate Carles Puyol.

If you missed the bloodbath, or just want to watch the goal-fest one more time, here are the highlights:

What did you think of Barcelona's blowout? Surprised how lop-sided it was? Think anybody can stop Barca this year? Looking forward to the rematch, or think it will be more of the same?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. First, fantastic performance by Barca. They looked great last night. Having said that, despite the great win, it only is one win. The La Liga season is 38 games (or somewhere’s abouts – I forget exactly how many teams La Liga has currently). The win doesn’t give them any more points than any of the other games they play, and currently, even with the great win, Real Madrid are only one win away from jumping over Barca in the standings. Fortunately for Real, they don’t play all the other matches against Barca but against Deportivo, Athetico Madrid, etc. As good as Barca play they can’t stop Real in all the other matches. Title race is not over by a long shot. And further, Barca have shown that they can slip (as they did against Hercules earlier in the season). Think Barca are a team more likely to have slips against the smaller teams than Real, and Real will still have a very good chance of toping the league.

    I’m not saying the Real are favorites to win title. Basically that it’s not over by a long shot yet. Just seems like too many people are writing as if it’s already been decided. Still, fantastic performance by Barca.

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  2. Dont get me wrong Messi is great. One of the best in the world, but I think Xavi and Iniesta are better. They are the engines of the Barca machine and make the Tika Taka work to perfection. I would even go so far as to say one the the reasons Messi is so good with Barca and less so (still great) with Argentina is b/c he palys with Xavi and Ineista. Just my 2 cents.

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  3. Not only does Barca control the tempo with perfectly weighted passing, and clever turns, but they swarm like bees to pressure and immediately win the ball back on defense. It was brilliant on both sides of the ball. Total team futbol. That kind of superior almost telepathic understanding between teammates is what is so absolutely remarkable.

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  4. Reading RM fans complaining about the non-call on Ronaldo and Guardiola sideline antics is like listening to someone who just lost a limb and is bitching that there are no band-aids.

    The interweb is full of accolades for Barcelona, and there is really not much that I could add. However, I am happy I was able to witness one of the most amazing displays of soccer alongside my little 6 year old boy and we both cheered and laughed.

    Cheers

    BTW, I watched the game three times yesterday, plus the GolTV La Liga report at night.

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  5. Looks like Xavi’s was on purpose. The way he looked for the ball to come over his shoulder like it did seems to show that the move was intentional. Now whether he really felt confident that he’d be able to pull it off is another story, but it certainly looked like he was going for it that way.

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  6. Barca = Thing Of Beauty.
    I have never seen a display put on like that. And not just the 5 goals and not just the shut out. They way they passed amongst themselves, Barca’s time of possession, the incredible passes into space to seemingly no one only to be scooped up by a Barca player making a improbably run – this was one for the ages.

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  7. It’d be easy to chalk it up to the stupidity that ESPN seems to cultivate, but an argument was there to be made. Real Madrid was, in fact, on great form; a “disruptive” game is easier to pull off than a creative one; Mourinho has the tactical knowledge and experience to stop Barcelona, having done so with Inter. But when Barcelona is at the top of their game, possessing the ball that much and that well, they are unstoppable.

    That said, Barcelona are only two points ahead of Madrid, with a long season ahead. Injuries, bad luck, etc. could interfere. But Barcelona look very capable of winning another treble.

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  8. At this very moment. There’s nobody better then Xavi. The way he orchestrates the flow/tempo of the game is incredible. Jose is going to get hammered in the papers tomorrow. Wonder what he’s going to say. I hope he takes it like a man.

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  9. Many of these players held up the WC trophy this last summer and now they’re going at each other with hard tackles, pushes, shoves and slaps. That was enjoyable to see.

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  10. Perhaps it was a bit of luck but it also took concentration. Would you call Villa’s goal between the wickets of Iker Casillas lucky? Perhaps, but it was Braca’s ball possession and speedy attacks that frustrated Madrid to the point that even the great Casillas started to make mistakes.

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  11. It seems like I’m drunk! Sorry my bad…I didin’t mean the aforementioned Diarra, which is Lassana and we all know finally came in to start the second half and thus correct Mourinho’s initial mistake. I meant Mamadou Diarrra, who refused to go in at min. 87.

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  12. Barca – team on the century, such a joy to watch – makes me want to move to Barcelona and buy seasons tickets – best club team in the world bar none, this team will be talked about for decades….WOW, just WOW!!!

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  13. Are you drunk? I never said Alves was not a starter, I said that Maxwell was switched for Abidal, which freed Alves to go forward. I understand that Reals wingers switched sides which was baffling since Ronaldo had delivered his best performances on left combining beautifully with Ozil! That impressed you from Mourinho? The one they had to hold was Messi and for that he should have started Diarra. The only one that impressed me from Madrid was the aformentioned Diarrra who refused Mou’s instruction to get into the pitch at min.87!

    Cheers!!!

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  14. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Barca is playing a different game than everyone else. They are like The Beatles was to rock in the 60s. Same instruments and number of members in the band, but wholly different, superior, and revolutionary. Real Madrid puts out a few hits with their three chord songs while Barca is rewriting rock history.

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  15. Dempsey has 5 goals for the season so far. I have him pegged as getting 10 league goals by season’s end. Any chance he might leave Fulham even if they beat relegation in 6months?

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  16. Vastly over-rated. He was a hit in the French league with 2 very good seasons and decided he could play on the best team in the world and came and flopped and Higuain took over. Benzema will be a sub for a while. He should head back to France or give England a shot.

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  17. Actually, Yorktown was probably a bigger spanking than Trenton, especially since the Hessians at Trenton were allegedly celebrating Christmas when they were surprised, so one could argue that it wasnt a fair fight. Dude, you must be the first to post a reference to the revolutionary war here in response to a game. +1

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