Well...It Wasn't Quite El Clasico

The Spanish media had hyped this match for the last month.  Cristiano vs Messi, Cristiano vs Barca, Cristiano vs The World.  The mugs at ESPN were even predicting that this would be a high-scoring affair.  Given that both defenses have struggled this year (especially Madrid's), that was a fair assessment.
However, from the moment the ref's whistle blew...this match was a snoozer.
Neither team could get the ball out of the midfield...bouncing here...bouncing there...but rarely connecting with the intended receiver.  Occasionally someone would get forward and then....SKY the ball like it were an American football match and they needed to split the uprights. "It's up...it's goooood!"

Cristiano vs. Messi:
Well...both players have the potential of turning a match on its ear.  Neither did so today.  Cristiano had a clear-cut chance in the 20th minute, when Kaka (who was invisible the rest of the match) slid a ball to him in the box.  Whether it was nerves (hard to believe with Ronny), or rustiness from his long layoff, CR waited too long to shoot and Valdes was upon him.  CR put his hands on his head in disbelief.  The Barca faithful sighed in relief.  Letting CR near the goal is never a good idea.

It just didn't happen for Ronny today...after his missed chance

Although he had some flicks and tricks, they didn't connect with his teammates.  He was picked more times by (ironically) Pique (a former United teammate) than I could count.  Those flicks would have connected with one Wayne Rooney or Dimitar Berbatov, but sadly Ronny doesn't have that kind of talent to work with.  I know that's hard to believe given the amount of ducats spent in the summer.
Benzema was a waste of money.  He has shown nothing thus far and I'm sure the Madrid front office are wondering why they spent 35 million on him when Sir Alex Ferguson said he wasn't worth it...look who was right!
I will have to give props to Sergio Ramos.  Although I've been an outspoken critic of his lazy defending, he showed some real spunk today and actually helped out in the midfield.  He would have to do that, as Marcelo is worthless.
This team just doesn't play like a team.  Their midfield is best described as disorganized.  Of course the footy pundits were quick to point out that spending record amounts of money does not equal trophies.  Madrid proved that today.

Barca didn't play much better...until Henry was replaced by Ibrahimovic in the 50th minute.  Henry spent most of the first half with his hands on his hips protesting to the officials.  It seems as though his once-solid confidence has disappeared following his World Cup shame.  He was ineffective and Guardiola was quick to recognize that.  Ibra had been injured and was a doubt for the match, but when he appeared the match swung in Barca's favor.  Within five minutes he had scored a beauty from Dani Alves (who had blasted so many crosses into the expensive seats in the first half).  From then on Madrid were left chasing Barca.  Cristiano exited in the 66th minute (his doctor had advised that he not play more than an hour), being replaced by the invisible Benzema.  Barca gave Madrid a chance when Busquets was shown his second yellow for a silly handball.  Now down to ten, they played even harder and Madrid were still chasing them around the pitch.  The second red of the match fell to Madrid and they played even the rest of the game, but it was in effect over from the time Ibra scored.

Ibra celebrates his goal...the only one of the match

My assessment?
I find it completely believable that both teams have struggled to qualify for the knockout round of the Champions League.  This Barca team looks very different from the Barca of last year.  Despite a brilliant defensive display from Puyol, their play in the final third left something to be desired.  They upped their play against Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday (a must-win), but haven't found the consistency of the CL championship side so dominant last May.
Madrid (who fell in the King's Cup to third-tier team Alcorcon) aren't the scary team they once were, when Zizou, Figo, and the original Ronaldo ruled the pitch.  Their expensive acquisitions in the summer haven't paid off and the value of that wow factor isn't fooling anyone...or intimidating anyone.

The Spanish press were unrelenting in their assessment of the match:
In El Mundo, they commented on the brash prediction by CR that he would like to score 15 or 20 goals in the match...
"Cristiano is Drenthe." On the Portuguese' prediction: "Fifteen or twenty... will not be the amount of goals scored by Cristiano against Barça. Perhaps the number of times that the Portuguese will see in his dreams this night the foot that Víctor Valdés used to block his first goal in the Camp Nou."
(Drenthe is a Madrid player who has failed to live up to his expectations and was denied a goal by Valdes last year)
The press also alluded to the fact that Cristiano and Pepe were assaulted by laser pointers.  This has happened before in Italy and the clubs were given a hefty fine by FIFA for not controlling their fans.

No, he isn't part Hulk.

In other footy news today...C-Scum beat Arsenal 3-0 (one was an OG) and my Bordeaux won 3-0 and went top of Ligue 1.