Real Madrid and FC Barcelona prepare for a huge week in football and basketball
By Ben Sundock
The final week of February 2019 will go down in the history books as “El Clasico week.” Real Madrid and its Catalan rival, FC Barcelona, will square off twice this week in football and once in basketball. Let’s get it going!
What a week this is set to be. After enjoying a month filled with Champions League play, the Madrid Derby, and some exciting matches in La Liga, all focus is now solely on FC Barcelona for the next two matches.
Manager Santiago Solari and his players have begun preparations for the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg on Wednesday night in the Santiago Bernabéu after just squeezing by Levante on Sunday in the league.
Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in the Camp Nou, Los Blancos have the upper hand coming into the second leg thanks to the crucial away goal from Karim Benzema. If Real can manage to see the game out at 0-0, they would advance on aggregate thanks to that goal scored in Barcelona.
As we Madridstas all know by now, a scoreless draw is nearly impossible when these two sides go toe-to-toe and Wednesday should be no different.
What makes this week so great is not just the Copa match between the two rivals on Wednesday, but the two other games we have to look forward to on the weekend.
On Friday night, the Real Madrid basketball team – who is enjoying a great league and European record – will travel to northeast Spain to face Barcelona Lassa for the second time this month.
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Back on February 17th, the two sides met in the basketball Copa del Rey final in Real Madrid’s home, the WiZinik Arena. Barca won the title 94-93 in overtime after a questionable call was made at the buzzer.
Real Madrid head coach, Pablo Laso, roared with anger as the referees called goaltending on Anthony Randolph. Replays appeared to show the ball was nowhere near the rim, however, replay upheld the call.
To fuel the coach’s anger, back in 2018, against this same Barca team, Real Madrid was robbed of another Copa title when forward Jeffery Taylor was clearly fouled going up for a shot, but no call was made.
The club laid into the decision made by the officiating and pointed to the other blown call in 2018 in an official statement released on the club website:
"“Real Madrid, of course, understands that human errors can happen in any sport but the club demands a clear response about what happened in a play that was reviewed by a three-man refereeing team on the instant replay and whose decision surprisingly goes against what is laid down in the regulations, despite the clarity offered by the television images available to the referees and that everyone has been able to see.”“In light of the publication of both statements and the lack of any specific answers regarding this incomprehensible decision made by the referees, Real Madrid will continue to study the measures and course of action to adopt in view of the extremely serious nature of the events.”"
The game on Friday night in the Palau Blaugrana is huge for seeding in the EuroLeague standings as the season nears its end.
Real Madrid sits in second place right now at 18-5, just two games behind first-place Fenerbache. Barcelona Lassa is lagging a bit behind in fifth-place with a record of 14-9.
Next. Three takeaways from Real Madrid’s bizarre win over Levante. dark
On Saturday, Los Blancos and the Blaugrana will face off once again in La Liga for the final meeting this season (unless the two teams meet in the Champions League).
Real may be over 10 points behind Barca going into this match, but there is no better way to cut into a lead than to beat the team in first place. Make sure to clear that schedule, buy some snacks and plenty of drinks, and get ready for an action-packed Clásico week!