A game of two halves for Zubizarreta

Barcelona director of football and former goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta felt the 2-2 Clasico draw boiled down to a game of two halves.

“Real Madrid had the first half when [Karim] Benzema hit the post and we had the second with [Martin] Montoya striking the bar, so it was a point for each team and there is still everything to fight for,” he told Canal Plus.

“At times neither side dominated. In the first half they played very well but our goal took them by surprise and in the end we risked more to win the game.”

Asked about the performances of goalkeepers Victor Valdes and Iker Casillas, Zubizarreta said the goals were more down to the skills of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi than errors on their part.

“It was all credit to the forwards. Cristiano and Messi are two great goalscorers, but only those involved can analyse what happened, what they were thinking at the time. It’s a very good question for Iker and Victor.”

He also highlighted the performance of Adriano, drafted into Barca’s central defence at the expense of Alex Song.

“I want to point to the great display Adriano put on, who was brought in to compensate for the speed of Madrid on the counter-attack.

“Now we have a long break from League action with a considerable advantage over Madrid in the table. It will give our players time to recover,” he added.

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