A goalless draw is the best result Barcelona can hope for in 1st leg of Copa Clásico

Barcelona should hope for a goalless draw in the 1st leg of the Copa Clásico

Two of Barcelona’s best players, Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembélé, will be unavailable for the full 90 minutes as Ernesto Valverde’s men take on Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at the Camp Nou. In short, the attack will lack the usual edge.

Real Madrid’s defence have kept 10 clean sheets in all competitions since Santiago Solari took over as manager. Marc-André ter Stegen has kept the same number of clean sheets in the entire season. Without Messi, Barça cannot hope to penetrate an in-form Real defence.

In the 5-1 demolition in the last Clásico, Valverde had Dembélé at his disposal. This time, even the young Frenchman will not be available. Only if Real Madrid are uncharacteristically leaky at the back and make foolish mistakes will Barça be able to create openings.

But the defence will have to extra-careful. Barça have struggled to keep clean sheets against top quality sides this season, despite claiming victory occasions. In the last 5 games against good sides, the side has conceded at least once, with a recent example being the 2-2 tie with Valencia.

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Gerard Piqué and Clément Lenglet will have to be at their brilliant best this season. Piqué has to deal with the threat of both Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior, and needs to call on all his experience to overcome this huge obstacle.

Lenglet will face a lesser hurdle in Gareth Bale, who has been in poor form compared to his attacking partners. But the full-backs will need to be need to be at their defensive best, especially Jordi Alba. If Bale can get in behind, he has the potential to be very dangerous.

Also, due to the pace possessed by Real’s wingers, Sergio Busquets will have to be very alert. He needs to cut out all counter-attacks in the opposition box itself. The marking of Ivan Rakitić and Arthur also needs to be on point, always pressing.

If Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos have space, they have the ability to both find the killer defence-splitting ball and score a banger from outside the box. So, they need to be closed down and virtually suffocated to limit their creativity.

The team should hog the ball, retaining possession for as long as possible. This would ensure the proper solidification of the defence. But nothing is expected to come out of the possession before Lionel Messi enters the match as a substitute.

If Barça manage to end the home leg at 0-0, Messi and Dembélé can work their magic to get the side past the finishing line at the Santiago Bernabéu. At this point, a goalless draw is the best Barça can hope for given the circumstances.