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.
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)
