Barcelona edges Madrid in 1st leg of Copa del Rey semifinals

Barcelona triumphed in the first battle against rival Real MadridThe Catalan club won 10 win at the Santiago Bernabeacuteu Stadium in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Thursday iquest the first of three matches between the Spanish powerhouses in the next few weeksBarcelona took the victory with an owngoal by Madrid defender Eacuteder Militatildeo in the first halfThe rivals will also meet in the Spanish league on March 19 in Barcelona and in the return leg of the Copa semifinals on April 5It was also the first match between the rivals since it became public Barcelona paid millions of euros over several years to the vice president of the countrys refereeing committee A banner by Madrid fans at the Bernabeacuteu said Clean and white never tarnishedOsasuna defeated Athletic Bilbao 10 at home on Wednesday in the first leg of the other semifinalIt was an even match at the Bernabeacuteu with the teams struggling to create significant scoring opportunities Madrid controlled possession but couldnt break through the Barcelona defense ending the match without any shots on targetThe visitors took the lead in the 26th when the ball careened off Militatildeo after a run into the area by Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessieacute The goal came after Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga lost possession near midfield It was initially disallowed for an offside by Kessieacute but later got confirmed after video reviewIm satisfied with the result but not with how we played Barcelona coach Xavi saidAlso readKarim Benzema Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi vie for Best PlayerIt will be good to play at home in the return leg with our fans but I still think that Madrid is the favorite to advanceMadrid thought it had opened the scoring with Karim Benzema in the 12th but he was offside Kessieacute came close to adding to Barcelonas lead in the 74th but his shot from the middle of the area was inadvertently deflected near the goal line by teammate Ansu FatiBarcelona got the win despite playing without some of its top scorers because of injuries Robert Lewandowski Ousmane Dembeacuteleacute and Pedri a trio that has combined for 40 goals this season with 25 coming from Lewandowski Xavi also couldnt count on central defender Andreas Christensen because of an injury He started with Marcos Alonso in Christensens place and Ronald Arauacutejo was improvised in the right back positionBarcelona captain Sergio Busquets played in his 46th clasico to surpass former teammate Lionel Messi and Madrid defender Sergio Ramos for most appearances in the game between the clubsIts an important result that gives us a small advantage for the return match at home Busquets saidWe were coming off two losses and were missing some players so this strengthens the groupBarcelona was coming off a 10 loss at Almeriacutea in the Spanish league which marked the first time the Catalan club failed to score since October Before that it was eliminated by Manchester United in the Europa League playoffs It leads Madrid by seven points in the leagueBarcelona defeated Madrid 31 in the Spanish Super Cup final in January but had lost by the same score in the first clasico of the season in a league match at the Bernabeacuteu last yearBarcelona also got the best of Madrid the last time they met in the Copa advancing in the 2019 semifinals with a 30 win in the second leg at the BernabeacuteuMadrid was without central defender David Alaba and left back Ferland Mendy because of injuries Rodrygo was back from injury but started on the bench with Viniacutecius Junior and Benzema in the starting lineup but not being able to produce muchWe didnt deserve the loss we played well Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said It gives us confidence for the return match If we can do the same in Barcelona we will have a chance to advanceA fan was detained by security officials after invading the field at the BernabeacuteuBarcelona is the club with most Copa titles with 31 eight more than Athletic Madrid is next with 19 but none since 2014The final will be played on May 6 in SevilleThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever