Super Copa: Real Madrid Win Entertaining 8-Goal Affair

2012 Winners of the Spanish Super Copa, Real Madrid. 

Real Madrid (2) v. Barcelona (1) (4-4 on aggregate; RM wins with away goal rule)

Any Madrid-Barcelona encounter is a tantalizing affair, a recipe for enthrallment for even the most neutral of football fans.

Start off with the world's two best players (if you need to ask "who?" kindly slap yourself gently across the face with an open palm; repeat) playing among the world's most successful players, the Spanish National Team. Add several world beaters such as Ozil and Dani Alves and stir liberally with a century of fiery political and sporting rivalry. Now serve with a garnish of Mou (a coach as successful as he is easy to despise for many) and you have quite the tasty fare. 

Messi, Frustrated Genius

The tie has several talking points. Real Madrid simply did not look good at the Camp Nou and were kept in the game's first leg by a goalkeeping blunder by Valdez and some heroic defending by Sergio Ramos. Barcelona controlled most of the first leg (particularly through maestros Xavi and Iniesta), although Messi was kept quiet by an excellent effort from Xabi Alonso and Pepe. However, with sub-par performances across the pitch, a terrible display at Getafe (and a determined, driven comeback by Barca against Ossassuna), I was expecting an all-too-familiar scrappy affair which left Barcelona the hero. 

However, whatever "Mou" told the Madrid boys clearly worked with Madrid controlling much of the early part of the game, scoring twice (and having a third effort by Pepe dubiously flagged for an apparent foul on Mascherano). The side looked quite similar to the squad which played Barca and Getafe, except their seemed to be an increased sharpness and willingness to go forward. The Barca defense never looked convincing in the opening twenty minutes and by the time it settled, Barca was down 2-0 (a Puyol-less defense seems to be Barca's biggest ongoing only weakness). 

Messi had a few darting runs in the center which appeared threatening, but his visionary through-balls were cut off at the source. If one looks at the past three or four classicos, you will notice that Madrid targets Messi very closely, not just for man-marking, but as soon as he touches the ball, cutting off any path in front of him (which shows Mou's tactical evolution; Messi completely "pants-ed" Madrid in the first few Mou-led classico encounters). However, the pint-sized Picasso did provide one of the jaw-dropping moments of the second encounter with a devastating bending free-kick (with a curve on it that hasn't been seen since David Beckham plied his trade in Europe; although Suarez came close this past weekend). See for yourself!

And Ronaldo? Ronaldo provided a goal either half of the fixture, and definitely played a larger role in the second leg, running in behind the defenders. He wasn't able to leave his mark on the game he could, but his renewed energy provided a pace to the match which opened up the counter-attacking game (which Madrid is highly lethal at). Ronaldo's goal in today's affair was an amazing display of individual ability (although the fact that the he was able to complete his trickery, despite a misstep points to the Barca's sluggish defense in the opening minutes). Once again, see for yourself!

In the ongoing battle of Ronaldo v. Messi, the Super Copa provides a fairly tied round (Ronaldo scored twice; Messi scored once, but created more chances over two legs). By the by, did anyone catch in the post-game the deliberate attempt by both Messi and Ronaldo to NOT make eye-contact or shake hands? Juicy. 

From a Madrid fan's perspective it was interesting to see Modric in a Real Madrid jersey. I admit to being caustically cynical about this transfer, not for doubt of Modric's ability, but rather over confusion of how Modric would fit into the team. In today's game, he played the Kaka role: come on for Ozil, when the little Turk's heart is about to explode from exertion. Sarcasm aside, Modric's touches were stunning, confident and his connection with team-mates despite being signed less than 48 hours ago is a testament to the player that he is. It will be interesting to see how they regularly include him in their star-studded midfield ... and who will suffer? Ozil? Not likely. Khedira? Two different types of players? More likely Callejon's inclusion in the team will be dropped down to next-to-nothing. 

My "Man of the Match"? While every member of the Madrid team played a role in their tight victory - with definite nods needing to be directed towards Ozil, Ramos and Pepe - Barca would have scored three times from run-away opportunities if it wasn't for the world's best goalkeeper, Iker Casillas. 

Saint Iker, Man of the Match

Overall, this was one of the most free-flowing of the Classicos; relatively little stoppage, limited incident and all the talking points (almost) being from the onfield performances rather than from dirty tackles, off-the-ball incidents or "eye poking" (and yes, it is the anniversary of this unfortunate incident). It was a spectacle for the sport!

Stay tuned for upcoming entries on the end of the transfer market, the Champions' League draw, Round Three Round Up and my first Polish Player Update!

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The MESSI free-kick: