Posted by Andy Booth on 01/18/12

Lionel Messi's Barcelona overcame rivals Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey, winning by two goals to one at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The match started lively with Real Madrid looking the brighter of the two teams. The home side went ahead on the 11th minute of the game. Benzema broke forward and released Cristiano Ronaldo. Pique found it difficult to contain Ronaldo's blistering pace and his shot from an angle rocketed through the legs of Jose Manuel Pinto.

Barcelona refused to throw in the towel and if anything were handed a wake up call by falling behind. Despite numerous threatening attacks, particularly Alexis Sanchez's clever header that deflected off the post, Barcelona went in behind at half time.

The Blaugrana, however, got their reward just after half time. Xavi's pinpoint corner was met by a fantastic diving header from star player Puyol in the 49th minute to put Barca on level terms.

Leo Messi was very quiet throughout the match, seemingly to avoid incurring injury at the hands of some poor challenges. The match was marred with bad sportsmanship, most apparent when Pepe stood on Messi's hand, an incident that went unnoticed by the referee.

Barcelona, despite being on the receiving end of a lot of rough challenges, overcame the storm and it was the genius of Messi that carved the match-winning goal from Abidal. Messi's lofted pass in the 77th minute was timed to perfection in coordination with Abidal's run and the French fullback slotted the ball low into the corner past a despairing Casillas.

Barcelona were deserved victors overall and were lucky to have come away physically unscathed. The two sides will meet again for the second leg in the Camp Nou next week.

To watch highlights of the match, click here.

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