Barca have too much up front for Real

Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 2: ERIC ABIDAL stunned the Bernabeu faithful with a rare but superbly-taken goal to give Barcelona a…

Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 2:ERIC ABIDAL stunned the Bernabeu faithful with a rare but superbly-taken goal to give Barcelona a 2-1 comeback win at holders Real Madrid in a Kings Cup quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

The France fullback, who extended his contract with the Spanish and European champions on Monday, galloped on to a floated Lionel Messi pass and calmly slotted past Iker Casillas on 77 minutes to give the 2011 runners-up the advantage for next weeks second leg in Barcelona.

Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo had put the home side ahead with a breakaway goal in the 11th minute before Barca captain Carles Puyol flung himself at Xavis corner to power a header past Spain team mate Casillas for a 49th-minute equaliser.

Unusually it was Barca’s set-pieces that were causing Madrid the most problems and from another Xavi free-kick Sergio Busquets headed just over when he should have found the target.

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The winner did eventually arrive for Barcelona, though, and predictable Messi was heavily involved.

Messi escaped Madrid’s pressure in the midfield and scooped a wonderful ball over the top for Abidal, who kept his cool to slot past Casillas.

In the fourth of a possible eight meetings between the arch rivals this season, Barca followed up last months 3-1 La Liga win, when they also fell a goal behind, with another victory to add to their success over two legs in the Spanish Super Cup.

HOW THEY LINED OUT

REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Casillas; Altintop, Carvalho, Ramos, Coentrao; Pepe, Xabi Alonso, Diarra; Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain

Subs: Adan, Kaka, Ozil, Granero, Marcelo, Albiol, Callejon

BARCELONA (4-3-3): Pinto; Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Fabregas, Sanchez. Subs: Valdes, Mascherano, Thiago, Adriano, Sergi Roberto, Dos Santos, Cuenca.

Referee: César Muñiz Fernández (Spain)