Real Madrid leave Barcelona with away goal for 2nd leg of Copa Clásico

Barcelona and Real Madrid fought out a 1-1 tie in the first leg

Barcelona managed to hold Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at the Camp Nou. Leo Messi came off the bench, but couldn’t make a difference in the end as Malcom’s goal cancelled out Lucas Vázquez‘s opener early on.

Real Madrid came out with all guns blazing, with Lucas Vázquez getting the away goal in the 6th minute itself. It was a complete defensive failure in the early stages of the game itself. All the defenders were complicit as Karim Benzema showed his brilliance.

Vinícius Júnior was in space on the left flank and he put in an excellent ball to the far post. Jordi Alba missed the header and Benzema put it into the box for Vázquez to put the finishing touch. Los Merengues continued their spell of dominance, but Barça were impressive in spells.

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Ivan Rakitić hit the crossbar with a glancing header, and Luis Suárez came close with a curling effort. Malcom had a great opportunity but failed to convert as Keylor Navas won in a one-on-one situation. But he made up for it by making the breakthrough in the 57th minute.

Jordi Alba was put through on goal with a long ball by Clément Lenglet. Keylor Navas came for the ball, and it fell to Luis Suárez. The experienced Uruguayan centre-forward’s shot was blocked by Sergio Ramos, but Malcom finally curled it into an empty net off Dani Carvajal.

Then, both managers went for it as Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale came into the game. The Argentine maestro certainly galvanised Barça, but couldn’t secure a winner. He came very close to creating clear-cut chances, but did not manage to get the side past the finishing line.

Malcom was clearly the man-of-the-match, as he and Semedo terrorised Marcelo on the right flank. Rakitić and Busquets have had better games, while Arthur grew into the game after starting off slow. Suárez was very poor, and his play-acting did not get him any new fans.

Barça are not going to be happy with this result. Real Madrid will go into the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu with an advantage. The team will have to find the back of the net in the second leg in order to keep the treble hopes alive.

Next. Why Mark Doyle is wrong about Barça’s overreliance on Messi. dark

Ernesto Valverde made a blunder in the first-half with his choice of strategy. He went for a direct style, instead of instructing his players to regain possession. While some of the long balls from the likes of Lenglet did work, it allowed Real Madrid too much space to get in behind.

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