Real lost to Barca because of an own goal
Playing at the Bernabeu, but Real "shot himself in the foot" when the last three players touched the ball leading to the only goal of Barca belonging to the home team. Carlo Ancelotti's army also did not finish the goal once, while Barca only had four shots but had more dangerous stunts.
The result is considered a success for Barca, especially when they lack Robert Lewandowski, Pedri or Ousmane Dembele in this match, while Real use the most powerful squad. That helps the white team enter the excitement, pushing up the long-range pressure team. Barca tried to control the ball but had difficulty, making the match scarce and mainly attractive in the midfield dispute.
In the 24th minute, strikers Vinicius Junior and Frenkie de Jong leaned on their shoulders, pulled their shirts, and then wrestled each other to the ground in a movement quite similar to judo. However, only Vinicius received a yellow card in this situation, causing him to react to the referee.
Just two minutes later, the turning point of the game came from an individual mistake by Eduardo Camavinga, when the 21-year-old midfielder lost the ball in the middle of the field. Ferran Torres pulled the ball to the front of the penalty area, then poked a gap for Franck Kessie to dive down to face the goalkeeper. The Ivory Coast midfielder kicked the ball into goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, bounced back to Militao's feet and bounced back into the goal. Defender Nacho tried to break out but failed.
The team that opened the scoring in El Clasico won 15 of the last 17 matches, when Barca preserved the lead despite many difficulties in the second half. Real kept the ball more, making it impossible for the opponent to develop a controlling style of play. However, Barca has the opportunity to counterattack when the host is high. In the 73rd minute, Kessie shot in the penalty area to the far corner, almost defeating Courtois, but the ball hit teammate Ansu Fati's foot. Kessie was upset when Fati did not jump to avoid the ball in this situation.
Real kept the ball 64% of the time, the most after nearly 10 years in El Clasico, but failed. And Barca, with 36% of the time on the ball, is also their lowest figure in all competitions in the past decade.
The two teams will have a month to prepare before the second leg at Camp Nou, when the away table rule does not apply in the King's Cup. Between these two matches, they also met in La Liga also on Barca's field on the evening of March 19. In the next match, Real will be a guest at Betis, and Barca will take on Valencia in the 24th round of La Liga on Sunday, March 5.
