![]() RB: Dani Carvajal - 5/10 - Occupied a really high position on the right, not that he did much.ĬB: Eder Militao - 6/10 - Didn't have time to readjust his legs as the ball came back at him when Courtois saved Kessie's initial shot. GK: Thibaut Courtois - 6/10 - Did well to save the first attempt from Kessie. In the end it was off target and ultimately summed up their night. Real sub Rodrygo had Ter Stegen worried enough in the final seconds of the 90 to dive across his goal in pursuit of a rasping drive. A cutback to the latter produced a low finish destined for the bottom corner, only for it to strike substitute Ansu Fati and deflect wide. But they were also growing in confidence too and another Torres-Kessie combination should have doubled the lead. The Barcelona defender was generally sticking to his man like glue.īarça successfully weathered a storm from the home side as the hour mark came and went without ever really giving up clear chances – Araujo and Kounde in particular defended exceptionally well. Ronald Araujo was deployed at right-back to stop Vinicius Junior any way he could and pulled out an excellent block to stop the Brazilian getting a potential equaliser soon after the restart. Valverde also tried to deceive Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a disguised cross – the Barça goalkeeper didn’t fall for it. It was initially threatened with an offside flag, with VAR confirming that Kessie was indeed onside when the ball was played.ĭani Carvajal had a reasonable chance shortly before half-time, connecting at the far post with a diagonal Toni Kroos cross but unable to control the ambitious volley on target. ![]() There was still work to do and Ferran Torres fed Franck Kessie, whose shot was saved by Thibaut Courtois but rebounded into the net off Militao. Sloppiness on the ball from Eduardo Camavinga helped give the Catalans their lead midway through the first half. However, the offside flag correctly denied him what would have been a very fine goal. Karim Benzema did have the ball in the net before Barcelona took the lead, controlling it on his chest and swivelling to volley in all in one fluid motion. But as Jules Kounde came back at him, the veteran Croatian could only lash high into the side netting from a narrowing angle. Real threatened to go ahead inside the first minute when Luka Modric sprinted forward like someone much younger than 37. But it mattered little in the end, with an Eder Militao own goal in the first half deciding the opening 90 minutes of the tie. It was a distinctly functional performance from Xavi’s team rather than the kind of vintage Barça he himself once played in. Barcelona will take a narrow aggregate lead into the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final later this month after securing a 1-0 win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Thursday night.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |