FC Barcelona 1 – Real Madrid 1: First-leg draw in the Copa del Rey a good result for Madrid

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona did not disappoint football fans around the world Wednesday night in the first of three meetings between the two gigantic clubs. Although the first-leg of the Copa del Rey ended in a 1-1 draw, there is still plenty to take away from the 90 minutes.

Many writers use the phrase, ‘a tale of two halves’ quite often. Usually, I am not a fan of seeing this cliche phrase. However, I am going to go against my beliefs in this particular scenario. This match truly was the definition of ‘a tale of two halves.’

From the kickoff, Real Madrid looked energetic, winning the ball back in the attacking half and forcing the Barca midfielders into mistakes. Thanks to a great cross from Vinícius Júnior, a master-class touch from Karim Benzema in the box, and a clinical finish from winger Lucas Vazquez, Los Blancos jumped out to a one-goal lead just six minutes in.

Every player on the pitch should receive praise for their contribution on this goal as the play started from the back. Real Madrid continued to boss the midfield thanks to the help of Marcos Llorente in the middle of the park.

The young defensive midfielder stuck to his position and covered well for Luka Modric and Toni Kroos moved up the field to help in the final third. Barca was reeling with Lionel Messi on the pitch and it was clear that a change was going to be made in the second half.

Barca fullback Nelson Semedo looked rattled in the first half with the way Vinícius was working his way into space. Although it was a great performance for the young Brazilian winger, there was a three on two breakaway that the number 28 could’ve done more with.

As we have seen a few times, Júnior’s immaturity showed as he tried to take a shot on instead of passing it off to a wide open Kroos who was in on goal.

The way the first half was going, it looked like Los Blancos could’ve – and should’ve – been up by two or three. However, some nice saves from goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen kept the leg within reach.

Whatever manager Ernesto Valverde conjured up in the locker room worked wonders as there was a 180-degree shift in the momentum. After controlling possession in the first, Real was relegated to clearing the ball from in front of goal while the home side cranked up the heat.

It seemed early in the second half a goal was coming for Barca and it did by way of a bit of luck just over 10 minutes into the match. A bit of hectic scramble left Keylor Navas far out from the goal and struggling to get back.

After Luis Suarez hit the post, Malcom picked up the loose ball and barely beat Sergio Ramos to the near post to even the score.

Both managers made two changes each in the ensuing 10 minutes as both looked to add enough energy to get a deciding goal. Neither team came too close to winning the match, however, both keepers made some heroic saves.

Ter Stegen finished with one save and Navas finished with two although it felt like he made about 10 key plays.

Messi’ introduction in the 63rd minute changed how Barca operated on offense, but if anything, they only got better when the short midfielder came on.

The second half was unreasonably sloppy while the first half was nothing but fluid attack after fluid attack from each side. The match finished with 33 total fouls called and six yellow cards distributed. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we will not see a bunch of flopping  *cough, cough, Suarez* in the return leg.

This is a very good result for Real Madrid. An away goal is huge, but so was holding Barcelona to just one themselves. Now, Los Blancos can play for a 0-0 draw if they so choose, but we all know that that will not happen.

It should be very fun to watch these two go at it again in just a couple weeks time.

Stay tuned to The Real Champs for more post-El Clásico coverage!