Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 11th minute for Real Madrid, when he dinked his way past Gerard Pique with his trademark step-over, before hitting a left-footed strike through the legs of Barca goalkeeper Jose Pinto.
(link to video of Cristiano Ronaldo's opening goal against Barcelona)
But despite going into the half-time 1-0 down, Barcelona had the best of the first half, and Andres Iniesta squandered a decent chance inside the box that could have tied the game up.
Barcelona did equalise shortly after halftime when a Xavi corner kick was dropped deep into the box and Carlos Puyol came storming in to power home a diving header to make it 1-1.
(link to video coverage of Carlos Puyol's goal)
Both sides were unlucky not to take the lead in the next 10 minutes, with Andres Iniesta and Karim Benzema both striking the woodwork.
Barcelona's patient passing paid off in the 76th minute when Lionel Messi clipped a pass over the Madrid defence for Abidal to control the ball down on his chest before stabbing past Casillas for the match winner.
(link to video coverage of Adibal's winning goal)
The second leg of this Cup tie takes place at Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium next Wednesday (January 25th 2012).
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