📰 Table Of Contents
Match report
The latest edition of Spanish football’s fiercest rivalry played to completion a short time ago, with Barcelona, ultimately, having clinched bragging rights at the expense of Real Madrid.
Xavi Hernandez’s troops made the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu a short time ago.
Fresh off seeing their advantage atop the La Liga table cut owing to a shock defeat at the hands of Almeria at the weekend, Barca turned their attentions towards matters in the cup, in a Copa del Rey semi-final first-leg showdown with Carlo Ancelotti’s Real.
And, when all was said and done, the Blaugrana showcased impressive resiliency, en route to a swift return to winning ways.
A tense 90 minutes in Madrid was eventually decided by a solitary goal, forthcoming just beyond the midway point of the first-half.
After Franck Kessie was set free through the heart of the hosts’ backline, his ensuing effort was kept out by Thibaut Courtois, only for the retreating Eder Militao to direct the ball home in altogether unfortunate fashion:
FRANK KESSIE OPENS THE SCORING FOR BARCELONA! 😮 pic.twitter.com/sdDyDtXg0J
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 2, 2023
Kessie nearly made it 2-0 for Barcelona but Ansu Fati couldn’t get out of the way 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JbbyiFxGTw
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 2, 2023
In the end, though, one goal proved to be enough, as Barcelona put themselves in an excellent position to march on to the Copa del Rey finale ahead of next month’s return leg at the Camp Nou.
Player ratings
Real Madrid
Thibaut Courtois – 5.5
Dani Carvajal – 5
Eder Militao – 5.5
Antonio Rudiger – 6.5
Nacho – 5.5
Eduardo Camavinga – 5.5
Toni Kroos – 6
Federico Valverde – 6
Luka Modric – 5.5
Vinicius Junior – 4.5
Karim Benzema – 5
Substitutes: Rodrygo – 6, Aurelien Tchouameni – N/A, Alvaro Rodriguez – N/A
Barcelona
Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6
Ronald Araujo – 8
Jules Kounde – 7.5
Marcos Alonso – 7
Alejandro Balde – 7
Sergio Busquets – 6.5
Frenkie De Jong – 8
Franck Kessie – 7
Gavi – 6
Raphinha – 5
Ferran Torres – 6.5
Substitutes: Ansu Fati – 5, Sergi Roberto – N/A
Fan reaction & stat roundup
Most titles in Copa del Rey history:
31 – Barcelona
30
29
29
27
26
25
24
23 – Athletic Club
22
21
20
19 – Real MadridLos Blancos haven’t made the final since 2014. 🧐
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 2, 2023
Eder Militao has now scored the first Own Goals of his club career. He is the 2nd Real Madrid player to score an own goal this season, after Nacho.
Unfortunate. 🫣 pic.twitter.com/2bB80WgR1r
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) March 2, 2023
How did we concede 5 to Madrid? We are truly awful.#ElClasico
— H 🇺🇾 (@TheLiverpoolEra) March 2, 2023
Jules Kounde’s first half by numbers vs. Real Madrid:
100% pass accuracy
5 clearances
2/2 long balls completed
1/1 aerial duels won
1 block
1 interceptionNot put a foot wrong. ✅ pic.twitter.com/FiTZ6Hd60h
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) March 2, 2023
Do you remember when a defender like Ashley Cole owned the early Cristiano Ronaldo? We are witnessing the same kind of thing with Vinicius and Araujo.
— Alvaro Romeo (@Alvaro_Romeo) March 2, 2023
Change of build-up formula needed for Ancelotti in domestic football.Key issue that needs solving is Vinícius’ constant isolation at LW without support from the LB or LCM. If he wants to keep 4-3-3 then Modrić/Valverde high at LCM must be considered.Vini needs those combinations.
— Premier League Panel (@PremLeaguePanel) March 2, 2023
At this point, Araújo’s only purpose in these Clasico’s is to bully Vinicius frightened. Can’t say it isn’t working, lol.
— Neal 🇦🇺 (@NealGardner_) March 2, 2023
Vinícius Jr. is now the forward with the most yellow cards across La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España this season with 9 bookings 😬 pic.twitter.com/BmHAuXxERT
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 2, 2023
Vinícius tried to murder Frenkie here, but according to @vinijr it’s not worth a yellow 😂 pic.twitter.com/WBr5n65vA7
— . (@barcastat) March 2, 2023
McManaman: “You can’t blame bad decisions all the time.”
Idk, I feel like in this match, Madrid maybe can? The match official Montero has been absolutely awful #ElClasico
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) March 2, 2023
Ansu blocks Kessie’s goal bound shot… what a lad! pic.twitter.com/GxlqYd8vHu
— M•A•J (@Ultra_Suristic) March 2, 2023
Kessie’s not the player we want him to be but can’t fault him for lack of hard work.
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) March 2, 2023
Barcelona win over madrid key takes
1) Frenkie de jong should NEVER be sold!
2) Ferran on that right side was better than Raphinha
3) Ararujo is legit vinicius papi so far
4) Busi is WORLD CLASSSSSS
5) bARCA CAN PLAY HARAMBALL BUT IDC IF THEY WIN— Yourboimarka (@muktesharma) March 2, 2023
.@roxasorg13: “I find it impressive how superior Araujo is to any defender in the world marking Vinicius… We are talking about one of the best wingers in the world, and against Araujo he does nothing!” pic.twitter.com/KZcJpHY3TR
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) March 2, 2023
For what it’s worth, Alonso has been really good today.
— F4ST. (@F4STFATI) March 2, 2023
Only issue with Camavinga at LB is he has a tendency to pass or dribble inside first rather than stretching play down the left. Think Valverde at RB (instead of the toothless Carvajal) would actually have a greater net benefit on Real Madrid’s structure than Camavinga at LB.
— Premier League Panel (@PremLeaguePanel) March 2, 2023
Jules Kounde has literally dropped his career best performance. He and Araujo legit pocketed their whole team! pic.twitter.com/0U2S37AKFb
— Ankit (@_Catalankings_) March 2, 2023
Koundé. Frenkie. Araujo. Monster match from all of them tonight.
— total Barça (@totalBarca) March 2, 2023
In the Clasicos that Araujo has played as a right back against Vinicius Junior, Barça have scored 8 goals, while Madrid have only scored 1. pic.twitter.com/vK4TMLp9nn
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) March 2, 2023
Real Madrid failed to register even 1 shot on target against Barcelona. This is the first time they haven’t had a shot on goal since 15th February 2022, 380 days ago.
Lacklustre. 💤 pic.twitter.com/6vuCXKqGLu
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) March 2, 2023
64 – #RealMadrid ⚪️⚪️ registered their highest possession tally in #ElClasico tonight (64.7) in all competitions since 2013/14 season, with #Barcelona 🔵🔴 registering their lowest tally in this period in any game from any competition (35.3%). Change. pic.twitter.com/AHfJgYjmis
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 2, 2023
Real Madrid’s form at home this season in all comps:
WWWWWWDWWWDWWDL
Barcelona hand them their first L. 🛑 pic.twitter.com/qxyPRc3nVu
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 2, 2023
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