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.