I almost didn't watch this game. 1 win out of 9 against the Cules and constant lying, cheating, and/or lucky breaks for the Catalans had my blood boiling. What was the point, I asked myself? We're going to get hammered once again. Tomorrow I'll have a dozen text messages gloating about how Barcelona owned us and what a monster Pepe is. All of this made the lead up to kick off a little depressing. I had decided to spend those 2 hours trying to find the cheapest brand of toilet rolls at Walmart instead.

...until it was 15 minutes before kickoff and my inner Madridista compelled me to turn on the TV. I decided I was sado-masochistic and left it at that. 10 seconds in, and Higuain misses a sitter. There goes the only chance we'll have today, I told myself.

But boy was I wrong. Our men really stood up to be counted. When else have you ever heard Dani Alves praise Real Madrid? Ozil dipped into his rabbit hat and pulled out the game of his life, Benzema and Ronaldo continued their good form against the Cules, and we came within inches of pulling off a miraculous win from the dragon's lair.

Sergio and Iker were right when they said that they wanted to put on a show that their Madridismo would be proud of, and I don't know about you guys, but proud I am. We may be out of the cup, but we went down kicking and screaming. We bossed around Barcelona at their own home ground, we threw caution to the wind and attacked them from the off, and Mou finally seems to have found a way to combat Pep's tactics. Or has he?

This game seems to have raised more questions than answers. Are today's tactics the way to go against Barcelona? They got freakishly lucky to go through, but I still feel, and I'm sure Mou does too; that taking Barca head on involves leaving too much to chance. It's like a 50-50. You might score a lot of goals, but Barca themselves are lethal and will finish anything you give them (like we saw today). That's why I think he's spent the last 8 Clasicos searching for that key insight, that magic formula, that tactical masterstroke that will confuse the Cules and bring resounding victory to the walls of the Bernabeu.

Unfortunately, I still think the way we played last night was too risky. We might win the odd game 3-2, but we there's an equal chance of us getting plastered 5-0 again.

There's 2 ways we can go from here. We were marginally edged out by Barca for the Supercopa earlier this season too, and everyone was sure that we can go toe to toe with them. And it didn't work. Could last night have been another false dawn for the Whites? I hope not, because this time there's something different.

The fact that our boys now know nothing is impossible anymore. This was probably the first time in a long time that we were clearly superior to the Cules at their own game, and were robbed. The last time something like this happened? A 3-3 draw at the Nou Camp in 2007. We went on to make comeback after comeback boosted by that spirited showing in Barcelona; and won the league. And I remember it like it was yesterday.

Another 2007? Yes please.