Real Madrid held in Pamplona [VIDEO]

PFDC – PAMPLONA, Osasuna ended their losing streak after a brave performance against Real Madrid in an entertaining goalless draw at the Reyno de Navarra.

Camacho’s men showed no sign of intimidation and restrained brilliantly Madrid’s offense in the first half hour.

And it was the Basque side who had the best scoring opportunities. In the 32nd minute, center back Roversio headed Punal’s free-kick over the bar and minutes later, Casillas got down to save Nekounam’s poweful header as the home side were pushing for a goal late in the first half.

After the restart, the visitors poured forward looking to break the deadlock.

Marcelo’s long range effort went over the bar and eight minutes later, Van Der Vart tried his luck but was denied by Ricardo. In the 58th minute, Ronaldo watsed a 25 metres free-kick, blasting it wide.

But Osasuna reacted well and came back into the match at the hour mark.

Substitute Masoud made a good run on the right before sending a dangerous low cross inside the box, but Pandiani was late on the play. On the counter attack, Higuain found himself alone in front of Ricardo, but the goalkeeper had the last word with a brilliant save.

The 38-year-old again kept the score goalless with a fine save againt Karim Benzema in the 74th minute.

The Rojillos held on in the last ten minutes grabbing a vital point against a side that have more than 400 million euros budget than the Pamplona team.

A point with a flavor of victory as Osasuna’s defense played a flawless match while the midfield did very well against some of the best players in the world.

The Basques will have a huge morale boost as they will face Hércules next thursday in the Round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.

Javad Nekounam displayed a rock solid performance in the midfield battle against Lass and Xabi Alonso while his compatriot Masoud Shojaei also showed a good performance, creating several dangerous attacks.

Line-up: OSASUNA: Ricardo; Azpilicueta, Miguel Flaño, Roversio, Monreal; Puñal, Nekounam; Juanfran (Rúper, m.78), Pandiani, Camuñas (Calleja, m.91); Aranda (Masoud, m.62)