Barcelona players celebrate their goal during the Spanish Copa del Rey semi final, first leg at Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday. (Photo: AP)Real Madrid vs Barcelona Copa Del Rey Highlights: Real Madrid lost the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals by a 0-1 margin to arch-rivals Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday. The hosts were undone by an own goal from Eder Militao in the 27th minute and never recovered in what turned out to be an expectedly feisty affair.
The return leg will be played next month, with the winner making it to the final. Barcelona would consider themselves lucky to win the game because there were phases in the game where they struggled to retain possession of the ball. Barcelona were without their talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski, wonderkid Pedri and Ousmane Dembele.
It has been a rather disappointing week for Barcelona as they were knocked out of the Europa League by Manchester United and then lost to Almeria in the league cutting their points advantage with Los Blancos down to 7. Real, meanwhile are on a high after defeating Liverpool 5-2 last month and drawing 1-1 with local rivals Atletico Madrid.
Follow highlights from RMA vs BAR below.
Barcelona will be without some of its top scorers when it visits Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Thursday. (AP)
And with that, we have come to the end of our live coverage of this Copa del Rey encounter. We'll be back with more live coverage of football. You can also follow our social media handles to stay up to date on the latest sports news.
What a game this has been at the Santiago Bernabeu. There was plenty of drama, lots of fouls and consequently, a lot of yellow cards. The two teams will be back in the second leg in a month's time.
The referee blows his whistle. An own goal from Eder Miltao is the difference on this night at the Santiago Bernabeu.
As the game enters added time, Real Madrid's Carvajal gets drawn into an argument with Barcelona boss Xavi.
Rodrygo curls the ball past the Barca post with the game trickling into added time. Five minutes will be added on.
What a chance for Ansu Fati! He is almost clear on goal, but some desperate defending saves Real.
This is starting to resemble a game of American football. Just relenteless attack from Real Madrid versus dogged defending from Barcelona.
Barcelona defenders have planted themselves into their own box and are desperately clinging on to the slender 1-0 advantage. Real Madrid playing with desperation now. Just 10 minutes left.
Time running out for Real Madrid. Modrid bursts into the Barca box and takes a shot. it's blocked by a defender. Then Militao gets the ball just outside the box. He takes a shot as well, a wild shot that flies into the stands.
In the 71st minute, Kessie is handed the ball on a platter inside the Real Madrid box by Ferran Torres, who has made a blinding run. He is unmarked and dutifully slots the ball towards the Real goal. Courtois in on the ground, truly beaten and far from the ball. But Ansu Fati, who has just come on as a substitute, tries to flick the ball into goal and can only send it skywards, away from the goal.
Kessie is livid, if Fati doesn't try that audacious attempt, Barcelona could have doubled their lead!
Barcelona are still leading 1-0 in the first leg of the semi-final of the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona make a rare foray into the Real Madrid box. It's Kessie who releases Raphinha on the left flank and his cross from the left flank curls in the danger zone bwteen keeper and defender. But no Barca player can get to it.
Ansu Fati replaces the Brazilian.
Kessie gets carded for an arm in the face of Carvajal!
Real Madrid have set up camp outside the Barcelona box. They're stitching together some crisp passes trying to find that one move that makes the Barca defence unravel. But that moment of magic seems to be evading them.
... and we have had two yellow cards already. This game is on the edge, you can just feel it. Players are tackling each other with reckless abandon.
... and we have had two yellow cards already. This game is on the edge, you can just feel it. Players are tackling each other with reckless abandon.
And we're off at the Santiago Bernabeu once again.
Not the best half of football from Barcelona. But they're 1-0 up in this game. A lot of elbowing and scuffling going on here. And even after the ref blows the whistle, two Real players, including Karim Benzema, surround the ref and walk him to the tunnel, almost admonishing him for poor decisions.
Barcelona have had only 36 percent of the ball. But, more importantly, they have scored the goal that matters.
40 minutes gone into this game. And Toni Kroos spots a run from Dani Carvajal on the right flank. Kroos is on the left flank and he curls in a sumptuous cross straight into the path of an unmarked Carvajal. The defender has time to chest the ball down, but decides to go for a spectacular shot into the goal. Unfortunately, his shit is way, waaaay off the mark!
Karim Benzema finds himself with the ball at his feet inside the Barca box. With seven minutes left on the clock, he has a chance to take his side into half-time level at 1-1. But he just can't turn and face the goal. Soon, he is relieved off the ball.
A chance for Barcelona. Gavi has the ball on the left flank. He bursts into space and whips in a vicious cross that fizzes between the Real defence and Courtois. It's just a few feet away from De Jong.
As Barcelona desperately try to scramble the ball away in their box, Kessie gets hit. He crumbles to the ground, and as his teammates try to ask Real Madrid to put the ball out, no such concession is forthcoming.
Luka Modric weaves his way closer to the Barcelona box and takes a shot. But the ball flies into the stands. Barca players are livid!
Finally, after 27 minutes of intense football, we have a goal. Barcelona have taken the lead against the run of play thanks to a Militao own goal. There was a brief hint of it being offside, but VAR allows the goal to stand.
Rudiger was chasing a throughball, when he tried to push it past Courtois. But the keeper blocked the shot, causing it to deflect into the path of Militao, whose momentum sees him kick the ball into his own goal!
Now Barcelona have scored, but the referee has signalled the goal as offisde. We're waiting for VAR to decide.
The constant refereeing interruptions have irritated players and managers on both sides. Vinicius gets the first yellow card of the game after a proper grapple with Frenkie De Jong. The card makes the player and Benzema angry.
Barcelona are struggling a little here. The Catalan side are clearly unable to retain the ball. You wonder if in some corner of their minds, the defeats to Manchester United and Almeria are still rankling.
Karim Benzema has put the ball into the Barcelona net. Vinicius Jr scooped the ball nicely from the left flank into the chest of Benzema on the right flank. The striker brought the ball down smoothly and slotted the ball in! GOAL
No wait, it's been chalked off as an offside. Benzema was in an clearly offside position.
CHANCE!
Vinicius now manages to wriggle away fro mthe Barcelona midfielders on the left flank. He tricks his way into the Barcelona box, but his left-footed shot flies wildly into the stands.
Sergio Busquets, playing in the midfield for Barca today, has now become the player to have played the most El Clasico encounters. His 46 appearances in the high-profile encounter put him one ahead of Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos, who both have 45 and are no longer with the two Spanish clubs.
Real Madrid seeing a lot of the ball so far. They've almost pinned Barcelona into their own half. Modric is wreaking havoc on the right flank.
What a chance for Real Madrid. It's not even been one whole minute and Real Madrid have already have had a chance. It's Luka Modric who sneaks past the Barcelona defence and turns on the pace. He has time to get a shot off on the goal, but can only hit the sidenetting. That's a great start for the hosts!
Real Madrid in all white. Barcelona in their traditional stripes.
You can feel the anxiety in the tunnel as both sets of players wait for the referees to lead them out onto the pitch. The fans at Bernabeu are in full flow, singing at the top of their voice. Only minutes now before the first Clasico of 2023 kicks off
After the El Clasico, Real Madrid will take on top-four hopefuls Real Betis on March 6. After that, they will host mid-table Espanyol next weekend. Then comes the decisive game against Liverpool in the Champions League where they have a 3-goal lead in their last 16 clash.
With no European competition to look forward to, Barcelona can focus on the LaLiga after today's game since the second leg is a month away. They will host Valencia on March 5, followed by a trip to Athletic Bilbao next weekend.
FC Barcelona XI (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Balde, Kounde, Araujo, Alonso; De Jong, Busquets, Kessie; Raphinha, Torres, Gavi
Real Madrid XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Camavinga, Kroos, Modric; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Lionel Messi in El Clasico
45 games | 26 goals | 14 assists | 19 wins | 11 draws | 15 losses
Cristiano Ronaldo in El Clasico
30 games | 18 goals | 1 assist | 8 wins | 8 draws | 14 losses
Barcelona manager said in hsi pre-match press conference that Real Madrid would be the favourites on Friday.
Barcelona come into the game seven points clear on top of La Liga, but on the back of a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Almeria last Sunday.
Spanish media outlet AS has noted the new rules that come into effect, particularly if both teams are tied on goals after 180 minutes of action over two legs.
The Catalan outfit has lifted the trophy 31 times. Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao have 23 titles while Real Madrid have won it 19 times.
Osasuna, meanwhile, are the clear underdogs among the four remainign teams as they have never lifted the Spanish Cup. In fact, they have made it to the final just once previously (when they lost to Real Betis in 2005).
Osasuna upset one of the Copa del Rey powerhouses, Athletic Bilbao, 1-0 at home in the first leg of the semifinals.
Ez Abde scored the winner for Osasuna in the 47th minute on Wednesday with a low left-footed shot from inside the area after a breakaway.
As far as great quotes go, this one is right up there. Barca boss Xavi said in his pre-match press conference that he gets really excited to go to Santiago Bernabeu. How excited?
“Going to Santiago Bernabeu always turns me on,” Xavi said at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“I’d like to play. I’d love to! It’s a great feeling and that’s why I tell my players that they have to be brave. We are in a good situation. We have the opportunity to win a title. It is an opportunity to react. We will go out to win and show our personality,” he added.
Barcelona were recently dumped out of the Europa League, leaving the Copa del Rey and the Spanish La Liga as the only two tournaments where they can win silverware. In La Liga, Barca lead Madrid by seven points with 59 points after 23 matches.
Barcelona will be without some of its top scorers when they visit Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Friday. Barcelona will head to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium without Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembélé and Pedri because of injuries. Lewandowski is out with a hamstring strain sustained in the 1-0 loss at Almería on Sunday, which marked the first time Barcelona failed to score a goal in a match since October. Pedri and Dembélé are nursing muscle injuries.
Osasuna took on Athletic Bilbao in the first semi-final, where the former won the first leg 1-0. Teh two will clash in the second leg on April 5th. Whoever wins, will have to take on the winner of Barcelona-Real Madrid in the final on May 6.
Hello and welcome to the big one! Real Madrid taking on Barcelona in the first leg encounter in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. It's a clash that will be bigger than the finale itself. Expect both sides to go at each other with the vigour of prize-fighting heavyweight boxers. And the best part? One month later, the two teams will face off one more in the second leg!