Barcelona lift the Spanish crown with a a srappy 0-0 draw against Athletico Madrid in an ill-tempered second leg clash. Barca went into the match with an away goal advantage following a 1-1 draw at Madrid where their latest signing Brazilian star Neymar came in as a substitute to head the equaliser. After a mouth-watering encounter between the two in the first leg, expectations were high for an intriguing display of soccer . however the match could never live up to such expectations as the Athletico defenders adopted a muscular tactics against the opponents’ mighty forward line resulting in a stop-start match littered with innumerable fouls.
However there were opportunities for both the teams but neither of the teams could break the deadlock. David Villa, playing first time against his former club, along with Arda Turan brought in a number of saves from Barca custodian Victor Valdes, the best of the lot coming just before the half-time whistle when Turan saw his belter pushed away to safety. But the easiest chance came to the Catalans when Lionel Messi stepped up to take the spot kick resulting from a rash challenge on Brazilian Daniel Alves by compatriot Filipe Luis. While the defender got marching orders from the referee, the Barca fans saw their superstar hitting the cross-bar from the spot keeping Athletico’s hopes of winning the title alive.
In the end Barca emerged on top of the two-legged tie with an away goal advantage. It was Barcelona’s new manager Gerardo Martino’s maiden trophy after he replaced the ailing Tito Vilanova the previous month.
Tags: Athletico Madrid Barca wins Super Cup Barcelona Daniel Alves Lionel Messi neymar Super Cup 2013 Tito Vilanova Turan Victor Valdes
