Abidal goal hands Barca advantage

BARCELONA maintained their hex over bitter rivals Real Madrid by coming from behind to win 2-1 in a tense Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu last night.

Real Madrid had a dream start when Karim Benzema played a glorious ball behind the Barcelona defence and Cristiano Ronaldo’s low strike went through the legs of stand-in Barcelona goalkeeper Pinto.

But, just as was the case in the La Liga before Christmas, Real Madrid couldn’t hold on to the lead against a Barcelona side that monopolised possession for long periods.

And just four minutes into the second half the European champions equalised, the unmarked Carles Puyol heading past Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Benzema might have put Real back in front nine minutes later put his header hit the post.

It was a costly miss as with 13 minutes remaining Lionel Messi produced a glorious pass to find Eric Abidal and the full-back beat Casillas to give Barcelona a narrow advantage ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg at the Camp Nou.

REAL MADRID: Casillas; Altintop, Ramos, Carvalho, Coentrao; Lassana Diarra, Alonso, Pepe; Ronaldo, Higuaín, Benzema.

BARCELONA: Pinto; Dani Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Alexis, Fábregas, Messi.