Barcelona 3 - 3 Real Madrid
Lionel Messi (11)
Lionel Messi (28 )
Lionel Messi (90)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (5)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (pen 13)
Garcia Sergio Ramos (73)
BARCELONA, March 10 (Primera Liga) - Barcelona and Real Madrid drew
3-3 at the Nou Camp on Saturday in a pulsating latest edition of
Spain's `el clasico' match.
Real led three times after two early goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy
and a third from Sergio Ramos, but were pegged back by a brilliant
Lionel Messi hat-trick, as the teams grabbed a point apiece in the
26th round of the Primera Liga.
Barca played the whole second half with 10 men after Oleguer Presas
was sent off just before the break.
Both teams came into the derby match under intense pressure after
being disappointingly knocked out of the Champions League this
week.
Real lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich and went out on the away goals rule,
as did Barcelona, despite a lucky 1-0 over Liverpool at
Anfield.
The Catalans had also lost their as lead at the top of the Primera
Liga with a painful 2-1 defeat at Sevilla last weekend.
In light of those failures, coach Frank Rijkaard had been expected
to ditch his controversial 3-4-3 formation against Real
Madrid.
However, the Dutchman once again opted for three at the back, with
Oleguer, Lilian Thuram and captain Carles Puyol starting in
defence.
Mexican Rafael Marquez was once again deployed in the midfield
holding role, alongside the more creative trio of Deco, Xavi and
Andres Iniesta.
Ronaldinho shook off a knock to start up front alongside Samuel
Eto'o and Messi.
Meanwhile, Fabio Capello had been under even more pressure than
Rijkaard in the build-up to the match.
The Spanish press claimed that the Italian coach would be sacked if
his side lost this match, with former Real striker Michel set to
take over.
For a game of such importance, Capello could have done with the
experience of David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Fabio Cannavaro and
Jose Antonio Reyes, but all four missed the trip through injury and
the Italian was forced to field a severely weakened side.
Sergio Ramos partnered Ivan Helguera in central defence, with
Michel Salgado, Manuel Torres and goalkeeper Iker Casillas
completing an all-Spanish back-line.
Mahamadou Diarra, Fernando Gago and Guti started in a narrow three
man midfield, with captain Raul just behind Gonzalo Higuain and Van
Nistelrooy.
The Dutchman got his side off to a perfect start after five
minutes.
Guti led a quick Real counter-attack and released the advancing
Higuain.
Thuram failed to clear the Argentinian's cross and Van Nistelrooy
fired home the loose ball to give the visitors, and Capello, a
dream start.
Real's joy did not last long, however, as Barcelona hit back just
five minutes later.
Eto'o had forced a fine save from Casillas, but the goalkeeper
could do nothing to prevent Messi from equalising after 10
minutes.
Oleguer put the Argentinian through with a long ball which split
the visitors' defence and the youngster coolly fired past
Casillas.
Three minutes later, Real then retook the lead after Oleguer
brought down Guti in the area.
Van Nistelrooy stepped up to score his second of the night and the
third goal of a match just 13 minutes old.
Barcelona must have been in shock at this stage, but responded
positively and deservedly levelled the match 15 minutes
later.
Ronaldinho charged into the left-hand side of the penalty area and
forced Casillas into an athletic save after a clever one-two with
Eto'o.
However, the Real goalkeeper could only parry the Brazilian's
effort and Messi smashed home the rebound to bring the Catalans
level.
After Higuain and Eto'o had come both close to scoring in the
following minutes, the game then took another dramatic turn just
before half-time.
Oleguer upended Ramos and was shown his second yellow card, leaving
Barcelona a man down.
Although the Catalans protested that Ramos had made the most of the
challenge, the decision stood and Barcelona would have to play the
second half with 10 men.
Rijkaard decided to sacrifice Eto'o, sending on Sylvinho to fill in
at the back for the departed Oleguer.
With a man up, Real started the second half brightly and Higuain
fired over after 49 minutes.
Van Nistelrooy was also still proving a handful for the Barcelona
defence and almost bagged his hat-trick after 63 minutes, but
Victor Valdes managed to push the Dutchman's lobbed effort over the
bar.
Valdes denied the former Manchester United player twice more in the
following minutes with excellent saves.
It was no surprise when Sergio Ramos put Real back ahead after 72
minutes.
The defender glanced Guti's inswinging free-kick into the top
corner to put the visitors in front for the third time in the
match.
But Barcelona never gave up and Messi got his hat-trick with a
stunning equaliser right at the death.
The Argentinian skipped past three challenges before hitting a
sweet left foot shot past the helpless Casillas.
Rijkaard's side finished on a high and could have had a late
penalty when Diarra barged into Ronaldinho, but the referee waved
away the Catalan protests and both teams had to be content with a
draw.
Barca return to the top of the Primera Liga, but Sevilla can move
three points clear with a win at Gimnastic Tarragona on Sunday.
