Copa del Rey: Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona

In a volatile encounter, Barcelona overcame Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey clash at the Stade Bernabeu.Barcelona took advantage of an eccentric selection from Real boss Jose Mourinho, who deployed Hamit Altintop in defense, as well as Ricardo Carvalho, who had not featured since September. Mourinho also pushed Pepe into central midfield, where he struggled to cope with Barcelona's passing football.Buy Barcelona or Real Madrid Copa del Rey tickets today to see how the tie concludes.However, Real did take the lead via an 11th minutes Cristiano Ronaldo goal, and Madrid started strongly, looking dangerous whenever they attacked. But Barcelona came back into the game as the first half wore on, hitting the bar and missing some gilt edged chances.The visitors finally equalized just after the break, when Carles Puyol scored with a stooping header from a corner kick. As Barcelona dominated possession, Read started to use aggressive tactics to win the ball. Pepe in particular was guilty of some excessive tackles, including one incident in which the match officials missed an obvious stamp on Lionel Messi.Barcelona continued to play football, and got their reward when Eric Abidal scored past Iker Casillas following a chipped pass from Messi. That goal and the 2-1 result leave Barcelona as clear favourites to progress to the semi-finals and lift the trophy.Buy Copa del Rey clasico tickets today to catch the rest of the action.You can also buy La Liga, Serie A and Euro 2012 tickets via Livefootballtickets.