Cesc Fabregas came on for the last 10 minutes in the second half to make his Barca debut as the match hung in the balance with Karim Benzema equalizing for Real moments before. Would this be the turning point for Real?
As it turned out Fabregas made a critical contribution to the winning goal when he found Messi with an incisive pass which the Argentinian turned towards Adriano who had timed his run to perfection. The wingback cut to the right and then sent in a looping cross which Messi was able to guide into goal with his left foot as Pepe, a bystander could do little. Barca were able to claim the Super Cup with the 3-2 win (5-4 on aggregate).
Fabregas collected his first trophy on his first night. That’s already half of what he won in eight years at Arsenal. It must be a wonderful feeling to be back home but all the success sure to come makes it even more worthwhile. This was the right move for Fabregas even if it leaves Arsenal short of badly needed quality in the midfield.
The silver lining is he left for a good cause – to make Real, a supremely arrogant club run by arrogant overlords and coached by an arrogant tyro continue to eat humble pie. Fabregas’s debut was seminal but this match saw Leo Messi at his brilliant best scoring two goals and assisting in the other. Real gave a real fight in more ways than one and were able to make a match of it with Ronaldo scoring his first goal at the Camp Nou in five trips and Benzema taking advantage of a poor clearance by Adriano following a corner by Kaka to head the ball past Victor Valdes.