Real Madrid win second classic in 5 days

 　　MADRID, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid took their second victory, a 2-1 win, over eternal rivals, FC Barcelona in just five days on Saturday afternoon in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

　　Although the game had appeared as if it was to be slightly de-caffeinated following Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Barca in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night and ahead of their Champions League clash away to Manchester United next Tuesday, the game picked up after a slow first half and ended up with a late deciding goal and controversy¹ as Barcelona were denied what looked like a clear penalty in injury time.

　　With his side out of the battle for the league title and with a huge game on Tuesday night, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho rested key players for the match with even Cristiano Ronaldo on the subs' bench.

　　However, he was still able to count on players such as Kaka, Karim Benzema and youngster Alvaro Morata, who had an impressive game. It was his cross to Benzema after just six minutes which led to Benzema opening the scoring from close range.

　　Barca had looked slugging on Tuesday night and in the Bernabeu they were still looking off the pace, with a lot of possession, but little penetration² until Leo Messi latched³ onto Dani Alves' pass after 19 minutes to level the score.

　　The rest of the half gave little to talk about with Barca keeping the ball and Madrid happy to let them do so as both goalkeepers enjoying a relatively⁴ calm afternoon under the Madrid sunshine.

　　The second half had threatened to go the same way before Mourinho's decision to introduce Ronaldo and Sami Khedira on for Benzema and the disappointing Kaka saw Madrid recover the initiative.

　　Ronaldo forced a fine save from Victor Valdes midway through the half in a game that was becoming increasingly fractious and lacking in rhythm due to the continual interruptions in the play.

　　Meanwhile Barca were again starting to look flatfooted and happy to settle for a draw which would have allowed both sides to retain their pride.

　　They paid for that lack of ambition in the eight minutes from the end when Sergio Ramos got a flick⁵ on a Luka Modric corner to give Madrid the lead.

　　It looked as if Barca were not even going to have a chance of leveling the scores as they struggled out of their lethargy, but deep into injury time Adriano twisted into the Madrid area where he looked to be fouled⁶ by Sergio Ramos only for referee⁷ Perez Lasa to wave play on.

　　The subsequent complaints by the Barca players saw Valdes shown a red card, meaning that in the closing minutes at least the game recovered the intensity⁸ of previous clashes.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 penetration   

n.穿透，穿人，渗透

参考例句：

• He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
• Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。

3 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

6 fouled   

v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。

7 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

8 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。