Real Madrid News
Barcelona forward says beating Real Madrid at Bernabeu was the ‘best night of his life’
Barcelona forward Ferran Torres has said that his side’s 4-0 win over Real Madrid in a La Liga game during the 2021-22 season is the best game of his career, adding that it was a unique moment for everyone at the club.
Real Madrid, who won the league in the previous season by an impressive 13-point margin, went into the game with a rather unique approach. With the league title all but sealed, Carlo Ancelotti decided to line his men in a 4-2-4 formation, with Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, Luka Modric and Federico Valverde leading the line.
Barcelona opened the scoring through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 29th minute before defender Ronald Araujo made it 2-0 a few minutes before the break.
Barcelona continued the charge even in the second period and this time it was Torres who scored to put his team 3-0 in front. Aubameyang put the cherry on top in the 51st minute as the Blaugrana emerged 4-0 victorious away from home.
While the result was indeed positive for Barcelona, the defeat did not impact Madrid much in the league. That win at Santiago Bernabeu proved to be the catalyst for the Catalans as they finished second with 73 points, two points more than third-placed Atletico Madrid.
Speaking about the victory, Torres remembered Barcelona’s celebration in the dressing room and said (h/t MARCA), “One of the best nights of my life [the Madrid win], in football terms.”
“I scored the third goal against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and at a delicate moment when there was a blow to the table… It was an incredible game. A unique moment. You just had to see how we celebrated in the dressing room.”
Real Madrid came back to haunt Barcelona in the ongoing season as they won the first El Clasico of the 2022-23 campaign, with Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo scoring in a 3-1 win.
Barcelona will get a chance to avenge the defeat on March 19 when the two sides collide at Camp Nou next year. Before that, however, the two teams could come face-to-face in the Spanish Super Cup next month.
In less than two weeks, Real Madrid will play hosts to Premier League giants Chelsea in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It is a repeat of last season’s Champions League quarter-final, with the change being that the first leg was played at Stamford Bridge back then, which Real Madrid won triumphantly.
So, even though they lost the second leg 3-2, Los Merengues progressed on aggregate. At one point in the second leg, Real Madrid were 3-0 down and looked to be crashing out of the tournament.
But, that is not how the match played out as Luka Modric produced a moment of magic, sending in a stunning outside-of-the-boot pass for Rodrygo to guide home. That forced the match into extra time and Karim Benzema then scored to seal an aggregate win for his team.
Mateo Kovacic, a former Real Madrid midfielder, was on the losing side with Chelsea on that fateful night. And the Croatian has now spoken to Sportske Novosti, about that moment of magic from Modric last year as well as the prospect of facing Real Madrid again.
“We were good against Real Madrid last year, especially in Madrid. Then Modrić invented that trivela assist for Rodrygo… We have to be at 120% against them. They immediately punish every minor mistake. Although I repeat, we are also a difficult opponent for them, we showed it,“ Kovacic said.
On the prospect of facing his close friend and national teammate Modric, Kovacic added: “[laughs] how the draw arranges it… It won’t be easy for us because Real Madrid is always the most dangerous team in the Champions League.”
“It’s a strange feeling to have Modric as a rival. There were hard fouls last year because neither he nor I pull back. We will fight for sure. I play on the left, he’s on the right, we will see who wants what. But I wouldn’t like to hurt him,” he added.
Chelsea had met Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League during the 2020/21 campaign as well and had managed to eliminate them at the semi-final stages on their way to winning the title.
While the Blues have not been in the best of form this season, they have the star power and quality in their ranks to hurt Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti’s men must be at their best to get through to the next round.
