Clasico Reaction: Real Madrid reunited by Barcelona ref rage

Spanish Football / Michael Lintorn / 26 January 2012 / Leave a Comment

Karim Benzema's appearance off the bench helped drastically turn the tie

"What happened in the second leg was perfect for concentrating everyone at Real Madrid’s attention back on enemies outside the club rather than internal divisions."

Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, but the immense show of character by Real Madrid at a testing time rendered them the real winners...

Jose Mourinho's success over the last decade has been achieved primarily by building a united, focussed dressing room everywhere that he has worked, packed with players who hang on his every word.

It was therefore natural that reports indicating a mole in the Real Madrid squad and senior stars doubting him after last week's home loss to Barcelona prompted rumours that Mourinho would quit in the summer. It is almost unheard of for his methods to be questioned inside his own camp.

So in a way, what happened in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final Clasico was perfect for concentrating everyone at Real Madrid's attention back on enemies outside the club rather than internal divisions.

Yes, they didn't go through, surrendering the only trophy won yet under Mourinho to their fiercest rivals. But for once they thoroughly outplayed Barcelona, created far more and will believe that were it not for some highly questionable decisions, they would have become the first visitors to win at the Camp Nou in 16 months.

Despite dominating the first half, they somehow went in at half-time 2-0 down to two late strikes - the second a piece of majesty from Dani Alves - however instead of heads dropping due to the 4-1 aggregate deficit, they rallied, pulling level and coming a goal shy of a spectacular comeback.

They had one goal harshly disallowed, Sergio Ramos was wrongly sent off and the referee absurdly blew up before the three minutes of added time were complete, even though very little football was played in the period. It was even arguable that Lionel Messi, outscored by Cristiano Ronaldo in both legs, should have received a second yellow for controlling with his hand in the box in the second half.

The final whistle was greeted with much sarcastic applause from Mourinho's men, while he noted in another surly press performance that some of his stars consider it "impossible to win" in Barcelona.

The coach still wasn't exempt from criticism, with it rightly said that starting Gonzalo Higuain over Karim Benzema was a mistake, and many in the media refusing to give him credit for the display, claiming that he picked the team that the players and fans wanted to see and not his preferred side.

But the main talk is of how impressive and hard done by they were, Pep Guardiola even reflecting that "it is more difficult to beat Real Madrid every time we play them". They are [1.66] to use this near miss as motivation to top La Liga, in which they are five points clear.