BR - For the best part of 20 minutes, Real Madrid gave the impression they'd found a cure. Jose Mourinho's team were pressing Barcelona with such ferocity that the world's best midfield couldn't find a pass. El Clasico was an orgy of white swarming red and blue.
An estimated 500 million television viewers had been treated to a fabulously frenetic and fascinating opening—sparked into life by a goal after 23 seconds that cast the most assured football outfit in the world as a shivering wreck in the grips of an irresistible revolution. The hype had already delivered, and we were just getting started.
