El Clásico

Real Madrid made the trek south to Barcelona and the Camp Nou to meet their rivals. The time since their 6-2 trouncing at the feet of Barça in May has not been unproductive: They spent hundreds of Millions of dollars to acquire superstar players that could help them avoid such a humiliation again. Pobrecitos.

Neither Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaka could save them from the defeat that came on Sunday. Though it was not the 6 point display of pyrotechnics that Barcelona unleashed on them in May, the 1-0 victory was enough to show the Madrillenos who is still running the show in Spain. It also returned Barça to the top of the league after they had fallen one point behind Madrid for a week.

To be fair, Real Madrid looked better than any other club that has played at the Camp Nou this season. They had a lot of solid opportunities and generally played Barça with the kind of parity of ability that is nearly non-existent among clubs that play the world champion team. Still, their shots flew wide or were deflected by Valdes (who made a brilliant save against a charging Ronaldo), or were sent astray at the feet of the ever-passionate Carles Puyol. Puyol was seriously on one; he played as intently as ever and came up with several win-saving plays. Likewise, Dani Alves was a true force on the pitch. He was, for me, the man of the match; playing with grit and guts on both sides of the field-seemingly everywhere. Alves showed his dedication to the club and game by leaving it all on the field. It was an inspirational performance.

The lone goal of the match came off of Alves' beautiful driving pass to Ibra, who had only recently been subbed in the game for Henry in the second half. Ibra, the club's own superstar acquisition of the summer, showed again why he has become the highest scorer for the team this year. His speed and ability are top-class, and it seemed to be a victory of management being played out: As Madrid's marquee trades could not get it together against Barça, the Blaugrana's ended up coming through to save the game for the 98,000 spectators at the Nou.

A few weeks back, during the 6-1 trouncing of Zaragoza, Ibra scored his greatest goal yet this season on a lightning swift free kick. As he did his victory stomp, he seemed to look to the owner's box in vindication as the club president barely restrained his glee next to his counterpart from Zaragoza. The moment was a diamond of athletic ego; the 60 million euro player validating his paycheck with the kind of performance that only he can produce. That display of platinum skill and ego came again on sunday when it mattered most for the team.

This was the most hard battled game of the season and it had been simmering since the summer time. No matter what comes of the rest of the season, it's alright now.