Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a share of the spoils for Real Madrid from the penalty spot on Saturday after Lionel Messi had netted a spot-kick of his own for a 1-1 draw that keeps Barcelona on course for the La Liga title.
Ronaldo’s effort denied Barca a win, which would have all but ended the title race as the two rivals met in the first of four Clasico clashes inside three weeks which will decide the destination of this season’s silverware.
Messi and Ronaldo scored their 30th league goals of the season as Barcelona stayed on course for glory after their encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu left the visitors, chasing a third successive league title, with an eight-point cushion over Madrid with six games left.
Photo: Reuters
Messi opened the scoring with a 53rd-minute penalty that left Real down to 10 men, with centerback Raul Albiol sent off for conceding the kick — but Madrid leveled on 82 minutes through Ronaldo.
A sea of white flags created an intimidating atmosphere at the Bernabeu and Madrid were pressing hard to disrupt Barcelona’s fluid passing game.
It was Mourinho’s 50th competitive game in charge of Madrid and his side were sitting deep and playing on the counterattack, which didn’t sit too well with the home fans.
Four minutes after the interval, Ronaldo won and then took a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area, thumping the ball against the post with Victor Valdes well beaten.
It was a warning, but Barcelona then won a penalty on 53 minutes when Albiol pulled down David Villa and received a red card.
Messi lifted his penalty past Casillas to put Barca ahead and score against a Mourinho team for the first time in his career.
Xavi hit the crossbar on the hour mark for Barca with Casillas beaten and minutes later Pepe headed against the post as Madrid rallied.
Substitute Emmanuel Adebayor had a good chance for Real on 69 minutes, but his poor control with his head let him down.
With eight minutes to go Marcelo was felled by Dani Alves in the box and Ronaldo made no mistake with the spot-kick.
Earlier, Spanish forward Roberto Soldado made it seven goals in his last three league games as Valencia won 3-0 at bottom side Almeria to consolidate third place.
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