With their 1-0 home win against Real Madrid in last night’s el Clasico Round 1, Barcelona regained la Liga lead (30 – 28) after 12 rounds of matches. It was a match filled with uncertainty in the line-ups of both teams due to recent injuries and was a pretty balanced contest with the visiting side taking the early initiative but unable to capitalise on it.

The winning goal came courtesy of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 56th minute.

As always we compiled the first reactions from the top 4 Spanish sports newspaper to last night’s match.
Sport.es
‘Long live Ibrahimovic!’

“It was the staging of two radically different styles; home-grown versus financial might” the Catalan sports paper opens up, “Barcelona, with seven players trained in La Masia in the starting eleven, against Madrid’s 250 million euros in signings, with only one home-grown player: Iker Casillas”.

“What is undeniable is the balanced nature of the contest today. Sure, Madrid’s game was unattractive but from what can be seen in the Camp Nou last night, it is apparent that they will give Barcelona a good challenge for the League title this season”.

“Barcelona started the week with a lot of uncertainties. The draw in Bilbao, losing the league lead, injuries to Ibrahimovic and Messi, Champions League elimination looming… doubts began to creep into Guardiola’s men; Or is it… because their response to these adversities have been resounding; an exhibition display against Inter and tonight, a well-earned victory over Madrid”.

“They were moments of anxiety for Barcelona, which was not at its best – lacking precision in their passes and losing the ball more than usual, some resulting in dangerous counter-attacking moves”.

“The substitution of Ibrahimovic for Henry in the 51st minute of the second half proved to be decisive as just four minutes later he scored what turned out to be the winning goal”.

“Barcelona was able to withstand Madrid’s onslaught, especially after Sergio Busquets’s dismissal in the 62nd minute for a second bookable offense, a handball”.

Finally the article says “The 1-0 remained unchanged and, with this result, Barca has regained la Liga lead after briefly losing it for a week. Congratulation, Barca!”

El Mundo Deportivo
‘1-0: Barca wins against Real Madrid in el Clasico’

“Barca defeated Florentino’s second generation galacticos in their first el Clasico to regain the League lead, despite playing with ten men for the last half hour. Madrid, with his million euros investment on the pitch, stepped up their game – compared to their last few games – and has had their chances but fail to get past a magnificent Valdés,” the other Catalan paper summarised.

“The Catalan side’s starting eleven was marked by the notable absence of Ibrahimovic, while Madrid’s coach, Pellegrini left Benzema out. The first half has been a tense affair with the home side trying to impose his usual game and Madrid showing good composure, erasing the poor image of their last few matches. Cristiano Ronaldo who led the line for los Blancos, the most expensive in history, had the best opportunity of the first half only to be denied by a brilliant Valdes block (min.19)”.

“Proceedings picked up for the home side after the break; quicker to the ball, with Alves not putting crosses into the ‘clouds’ like he did in the first half, and despite more hard tackles coming in from Madrid, did not slow down their movements. In the 51st minute Guardiola substituted Henry for Ibrahimovic, and he swung el Clasico in Barcelona’s favour just five minutes later, latching on to a well-measured Alves’s cross”.

“The domination was short-live however when Busquets was sent off in the 62nd minute for a second yellow card for a deliberate handball. With his eviction, the match swung in favour of the numerically superior los Blancos but found the Barcelona central defensive duo of Piqué-Puyol impassable”.

The paper ends with “Camp Nou celebrated the latest Barcelona victory over Madrid, the recovery of la Liga lead and the superb goal of their new idol: Zlatan Ibrahimovic”.

Marca
‘Maximum punishment for Madrid’s best’

“Ibrahimovic shot down Real Madrid – who played better than usual, at the Camp Nou, only to lose like they ‘almost’ always have. Barcelona won the ‘war of the worlds’ thanks to the Swede, who came off the bench early in the second half to punish Pellegrini’s men. Barca owned the first round of el Clasico, and did it without putting a better performance than Madrid,” is the Madrid based sports paper observation of the match.

The good – Carles Puyol

“He blocked three clear shots on goal with his body, and was exceptional during Madrid’s corners. It was an impressive match for the Barcelona captain, the heart and soul of ‘Pep’s Team’”.

The bad – Real Madrid’s aim

“Real Madrid did almost everything right in the Camp Nou, but failed in their final execution and paid it with the defeat of el Clasico”.

The 3 key points of the match are:

It did not serve Madrid any use. “Los blancos read the game to perfection, but it didn’t serve them any purpose. They ended up losing at the Camp Nou again”.

Their mistakes are. “Though Real Madrid reputation was reinstalled, it was still defeated by Barcelona. CR9’s finishing was more like defender Drenthe when faced with Valdes”.

Ibrahimovic is the decision-maker. “The Swede made an appearance to score the goal that decided el Clasico outcome”.

AS
‘Cristiano squandered it and Ibrahimovic scored his’

“Madrid despite being in control early in the first half, failed to take the chance that could define the match. When Barcelona started playing to their usual game, Ibrahimovic was in an unforgiving mood, while Puyol was a colossus in defence,” was the other Madrid based paper summarisation of the match last night.

“Minute 19, Kaká advances close to Barcelona 18-yard box, held off the challenges and deftly pass the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese have it served on a silver platter – in that split second you can imagine the celebrations that is about to take place around the world – but it was not to be. Valdés, with so many reflexes like the arms of a chandelier, stretches his right leg and turns away the ball, and so goes the dream of every Madrid fan”.

“There were other good occasions for Madrid but none created so illustriously graceful. Others (Marcelo, Higuaín, Raúl, Benzema …) entered into the category of human errors, painful to see but excusable. In layman’s term ‘It was just not their night’. But then again, these players are not mere human beings, they are someone’s heroes”.

“Until Ibrahimovic scored, the match seems to tilt in favour of Madrid, based on a game-plan of defending higher up the pitch that drastically limited the space with which Barcelona can manoeuvre, and the plan turned out to be better than expected”.

“For the first half hour it was all Madrid, and it was also the time that emerged the figure of the ‘Tarzan’, Barcelona’s Captain Puyol. The old lion intervened in every of Madrid’s final move, taking on any players who are slow, awkward or the faint-hearted. Puyol and the rest of his defenders behaved magnificently, and in last night’s match some might say the only forward to have passed the el Clasico test was Ibrahimovic”.

“The goal came from a defensive move. Recovering the ball in defence, it ended with right-back Alves. If his cross, placed just behind Madrid’s centre-backs was magnificent, the definition of Ibrahimovic’s goal can only be described as fabulous; connected with the ball in flight with his left-foot – the heron (long-legged) assassin”.

“The expulsion of Busquets for a second yellow card, in fact it should have been three, rather than handicapped Barcelona midfield play, just highlighted their well-known beauty. Although Madrid directed by Kaká, kept on looking for the equalising goal, the Catalan side devoted itself to what they do best; to keep possession and one-touch triangular football – a style that is the domain of Iniesta, Xavi and Messi”.

“The conclusion from the match is that Barcelona is still ahead and Madrid is still chasing them, but the distance is shortening, which is good news for both team,” concludes the paper.

Mexican international defender Rafa Marquez on Monday extended his contract with Barcelona until 2012, becoming the eighth player to renew with the European champions so far this season.

"I?m very happy to renew with a club where I?ve felt very wanted, where I?ve enjoyed myself and where I?ve suffered. I have to enjoy these moments, they pass very quickly," he said after signing his new contract.

"Now I need to recover full match fitness to try and win back a place in the starting eleven, though competition is tough. I think I still have a good chance of being in the starting line-up."

Marquez, whose contract was due to expire in June 2010, joined Barcelona in 2003 from French side Monaco.

Various injuries have restricted his appearances this season and he faces stiff competition to regain his place from the likes of Barcelona captain Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique who put in strong performances during the club's 1-0 league win on Sunday over arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Barcelona gave no financial details except to say that Marquez's buy-out clause remains unchanged at 100 million euros (149 million dollars).

He joins Eric Abidal, Yaya Toure, Victor Valdes, Pedro Rodriguez, Lionel Messi, Puyol and Andres Iniesta in renewing their contracts with Barcelona.