Real Madrid have suffered a devastating loss to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at the Bernabeu, with the match ending 1-0 in Barca’s favor. However, the biggest shock of the game came from Real Madrid’s performance, as they failed to register a single shot on target throughout the entire match.
This was the first time in over a year that Real Madrid had failed to record a shot on goal, with their last such occurrence taking place on 15th February 2022, 380 days ago. To make matters worse, this was also the first time in 15 years that Real Madrid failed to register a shot on target in a game at the Bernabeu, since these stats began to be recorded.
Despite Real Madrid’s dismal performance, Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets made history as he surpassed both Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos to become the player with the most appearances in El Clasico, with a total of 46 appearances under his belt.
Barcelona’s goalkeeper, Marc-André ter Stegen, also had an exceptional performance, keeping his sixth clean sheet in El Clásico and bringing him level with Iker Casillas. Ter Stegen is now just one clean sheet away from the all-time record holder, Victor Valdes.
Following the game, Real Madrid’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti, expressed his disappointment at the result and took aim at Barcelona’s defensive tactics. Ancelotti said that Barcelona “didn’t deserve to win and that’s obvious,” and criticized their “strange” defensive performance. Despite the loss, Ancelotti remains confident that Real Madrid can turn the tie around in the return leg.
The only goal of the match came from an Eder Militao own goal, and it was enough to give Barcelona a crucial victory in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. Real Madrid will now need to put in a much-improved performance if they hope to progress to the final.
