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After being knocked out from the UEFA Europa League, FC Barcelona have made a good response. Last night, they defeated their arch-rival Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of Copa Del Rey’s semifinal.
Match Summary
Real Madrid hosted Barcelona last night to play the first leg. In this match, Barcelona missed two of their key players, Pedri and Robert Lewandowski, due to injury. Besides, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti had a full-fit squad in this match.
As the home team, Real Madrid had tremendous support from the gallery. They also had almost double the possession than the Xavi boys. But Barca made a counter-attack whenever they got the ball.
Anyway, despite dominating at home ground, Real Madrid conceded first. In the 26th minute, Frank Kessie entered the box and took a powerful shot. Goalkeeper Courtois blocked it, but the ball rebounded off Militão and into his own net. This is how Barca got the lead.
After that, Real Madrid became very desperate to find the net, having 13 shots against Barcelona. But they found it impossible to break the defense. As a result, Barcelona won the first leg and will host Madrid in the 2nd leg.
It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve come from behind in a tie – Ancelotti
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti was unhappy after the disappointing defeat at Santiago Bernabeu. He doesn’t think Barca deserve the victory. In the post-match press conference, Ancelotti said, “Barcelona didn’t deserve to win and that’s obvious.”
Moreover, Ancelotti is pleased with his team’s performance. “This defeat will not cause any after-effects because we are satisfied with our performance,” said the manager. “It’s very difficult to control the game against Barcelona as we did today. We are aware that we have to come back, but it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve come from behind in a tie. We’re hurt by the result, but we will go into the second leg confidently.”
Ancelotti is confident about winning the second leg. He thinks Barca will play defensively at Camp Nou. “If we replicate that intensity, we’ll have the chances to turn the tie around. I doubt that Barcelona will set up quite so defensively at the Camp Nou.” the manager said.
He added, “We started and finished the game well. They scored against us due to an individual mistake and a counter, a rebound. That affected the team a bit. We didn’t allow Barcelona to keep the ball at any time in the game and that’s not without merit.”
