MADRID (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s late penalty canceled out Lionel Messi’s and 10-man Real Madrid rallied for a 1-1 tie against Spanish leader Barcelona on Saturday in the first of their four matchups in 18 days.
Ronaldo cleanly beat goalkeeper Victor Valdes in the 82nd minute for his first career goal against Barcelona after Daniel Alves was judged to have brought Marcelo down inside the area.
Messi scored his 49th goal of the season from the spot in the 53rd to put the visitors ahead at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium after Madrid defender Raul Albiol was red-carded for tugging striker David Villa down inside the area.
Madrid got points against its biggest rival for the first time in six games but remained eight points behind the two-time defending champions with six rounds left.
