Teaching Youth Soccer

Yesterday evening saw another Classico and this time at the Bernabeu when Barcelona travelled to Madrid to face them in the Copa del Rey quarter final. For Pep Guardiola the result was a brilliant 41st birthday present; impressively Guardiola has still not lost at the Bernabeu and out of the matches that Barcelona has played against Madrid since he took control of as coach, they have won nine matches, drawn three times and lost just once. If you look at the matches at the Bernabeu the stats are far more impressive with 5 wins, two draws and and no losses at all.

It did not look so promising this time round though as after 10 minutes Cristiano Ronaldo put Madrid in the lead, after some scrappy play from both the Barcelona defense and keeper Pinto. Nevertheless Madrid seemed incapable of capitalising on that advantage through lots of the remainder of the first half, while Barcelona tried to claw back a goal. The first half ended one nil to Real Madrid.

However , after the break Barcelona came onlooking refreshed and whatever Guardiola had claimed to them during the break paid off: just 3 minutes into the second half they scored from a corner. In move they had concluded in the break, Xavi kicked the ball into the area, which was headed by Puyol into the back of the net, his 2nd goal against Real Madrid.

After that Barcelona had several opportunities which came to nothing except Madrid up also came near to scoring again. However Madrid’s players appeared were fazed by this stage of the game and starting to play mucky in order to frighten the Catalans. However in the 76th minute Messi passed the ball in the area to Abidal, who shot from close range to put Barcelona in the lead.

Barcelona kept this advantage to the end and ended the match winning 2-1. The next leg is played next Wednesday with Barcelona firm faves to make it through to the semifinal of the Copa del Rey.

Read the full Real Madrid v FC Barcelona match report at Simply Barcelona Tickets. If you want to see them play this year make sure you order your FC Barcelona tickets in advance!

The Copa del Rey, which translates as the King’s Cup, although it is usually called the Spanish Cup, has been going since before the creating of the Spanish league and while it's not seen as prestigious an award among major teams, there are frequently some shocks caused by teams from the lower leagues.

FC Barcelona has just qualified for the quarterfinals after thrashing Osasuna. In the home leg they won 4-0 meaning virtually certain elimination for Osasuna, and in the away leg they beat them 2-1 notwithstanding Osasuna going a goal up in the 1st half. That's a thrilling prospect for fans of Spanish soccer as it suggests that Barcelona will face Real Madrid in the following round, two more “clasicos” to happen in January.

With the Barcelona players looking like they were taking it easy after the near certainty of their quarterfinal qualification it appeared like no much would be happening in the match, which took place in freezing, foggy conditions and they were all looking forward to finishing the match and some heat.

Quarter of an hour in Fontas received a unpleasant looking injury and was stretchered off and Pep Guardiola brought on Abidal in his place. Osasuna failed to truly look like they were going to do much either but at the end of the first half they began to threaten. The result was Osasuna going a goal up at the end of the first half, scored by Lekic.

When play resumed after the break the Catalans seemed to be working in a higher gear and the increased energy quickly paid off when Alexis scored from an Adriano cross to equalise.

Soon after Guardiola took Alexis off and replaced him with Lionel Messi, who charged about the pitch in his usual fashion; and Pedro went off in favor of Busquets after seeming to suffer with a thigh strain. Then Messi set up Barcelona’s winning goal in the 72nd minute from within the area allowing Sergi Roberto to put the ball past the Osasuna keeper for the final objective of the match.

Read more about Barcelona v Osasuna on our website and if you’d like to see them play this year ensure you book FC Barcelona tickets from Simply Barcelona Tickets.