First half
The opening 45 minutes were a bit of a blur.
There was plenty of action, mostly from Barca’s side as they controlled most of the possession and created the most early on. Madrid on the other hand decided to make their presence known, but not by playing football.
Dangerous and rough tackles were aplenty from Madrid in the opening 45 minutes, rarely were they booked, which led to a bit of frustration from Barca.
Luckily for them, they started off the action courtesy of a gorgeous goal from Pedri, whose long distance effort curled right past the outstretched arm of Courtois and into the back of the net.
1-0 to Barca and what a deserved 1-0 it was.
After this goal Madrid tried to get into the game. They almost did near the halftime whistle courtesy of a penalty, but that penalty was ruled out due to offside.
So as we went into halftime, Barca was leading 1-0 and looked to be in control of this match. But one thing about Madrid is that no 1-0 lead is safe against them, especially considering the talent they have in their attack.
Let’s move on to the second half and see how things transpired.
Second half
The second half was an absolute rollercoaster.
For starters, we got 3 total goals in the second half, two by Madrid and one by Barca.
Madrid scored their two in devastating fashion, as Kylian Mbappe scored a free kick — yes, I’m still in shock too — to bring the game level at 1.
Then seven minutes later Madrid went ahead courtesy of Tchouameni, whose header off a Madrid corner bounced into the back of the net.
Shellshocking events really.
Barca was just up, but after being put under relentless pressure for 10+ agonizing minutes, Madrid had finally broken through and gotten the lead.
However, it wasn’t over just yet.
Just 7 minutes later, Barca equalized after a chance appearing seemingly out of nowhere, Ferran Torres was at the end of a looooong lofted ball, but he did more with it than expected, as he controlled it and rounded the keeper to slot home a goal on a wide open net.
2-2, madness that.
We didn’t have any more shenanigans in full time, which meant we were headed to extra time. An El Clasico final with extra time, talk about bad for the heart.
As we headed deep into extra time, both teams looked tired and were content with making their meals on the break. Barca however weren’t content with that, as in the 116th minute, Jules Kounde pounced on a bad pass from Luka Modric and fired a strike of a shot past Courtois.
3-2 Barca and absolute madness ensued.
This was madness, absolute madness. I personally almost knocked over my computer celebrating this, imagine how it felt inside the stadium.
Barca eventually defended for their lives over the remaining amount of time and brought home the trophy.
Their second of the season, with two significant ones to play for.
Final word
Brother, this match was ridiculous.
Barca were wasteful in front of goal in the first half, in which they could’ve easily slotted home 3 or even 4 more goals. Because of their wastefulness, Madrid were able to stay in the game and push for an equalizer, then an eventual lead.
But Barca kept fighting, kept pushing, kept believing, which resulted in an equalizer of their own and eventual winner late in extra time.
Big time win for this team and big time boost ahead of their big UCL clash against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Lot of bigs in there.
Barca’s next match
Barca’s next match will be on Wednesday as they’ll take on Inter Milan in the UCL semis.
See you all then!
I’ve been a big time Barca fan since I was 14 years old. I love the club, the history, and the tradition that the club has built over its prestigious history. Forca Barca!
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