The road to the cup final has become a bit more difficult for Thibaut Courtois and Real Madrid. In a Copa del Rey version of the Clásico, Barcelona won the Bernabéu: 0-1. See you next month for the second leg of the semi-finals.
And that thanks to a goal that actually came out of the blue. After all, Real Madrid was the better team at home. Modric soon had a chance, and a nice goal from Benzema was flagged for offside after eleven minutes. Koundé and Alonso had the necessary cleaning up in the back.
But then they started blundering at the Royal itself. Too casually losing the ball in midfield, to begin with. Kessié came face to face with Courtois, who made an excellent wide and saved. Only the ball hit the leg of his teammate Militão, and even our national goalkeeper cannot cope with that.
Eden Hazard watched from the bench as his team pulled the sheets after the break. But demolish the wall that Xavi has put up there these days? You have to seriously do your best for that. Hardly anyone succeeds in La Liga either.
Barcelona played atypically, it did not demand the ball compulsively. Lewandowski’s absence did not make it any easier for the Catalans. And yet Real did not get a ball between the posts on 90 minutes, despite that predominance. Vinicius kicked face to face with Barça goalkeeper Ter Stegen next. The biggest chance was still for the visitors, but Fati got in the way of a free shooting chance for Kessié.
Real Madrid will have to force the final of the Copa del Rey in the second leg on April 5. At the Spotify Camp Nou.
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