Tie to Barça as good as a win for Real

The first of 4 El Clasico matchups we will see within the next month was this weekend. The game was as contentious as one could have imagined. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with both Messi and Ronaldo scoring from penalty kicks. It was CR's first goal against Barcelona.

Barcelona didn't look like themselves, especially during the second half. I think a lot of that had to do with Real essentially playing with with 5 defenders with Pepe as a holding midfielder. Even after Albiol left with a red card, Barcelona was not able to put the nail in the coffin with a 1 man advantage.

Also, Ronaldo wore the newest special colorway of the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly III. They appeared to be a cross between the CR safari shoes and a new pattern.