Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid: Malcom leveller keeps Copa semifinal open
The Brazilian equalised in the second half after Lucas' opener
Malcom's second half goal earned Barcelona a draw against Real Madrid as a run of three Clasicos in 25 days kicked off at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
FCB
1 ________________ 1
RMA
LINE UP
FC Barcelona
Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Busquets (c), Rakitic (Arturo Vidal, min. 62), Arthur, Malcom (Aleñá, min. 75), Coutinho (Messi, min. 63) y Luis Suárez.
Real Madrid
Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Sergio Ramos (c), Marcelo, Llorente (Casemiro, min. 63), Kroos, Modric, Lucas Vázquez (Marco Asensio, min. 84), Vinicius Junior (Bale, min. 63) y Benzema.
Goles
0-1, min. 5: Lucas Vázquez aprovecha un pase de Benzema desde la línea de fondo. 1-1, min. 57: Malcom, tras un disparo de Luis Suárez al palo.
Árbitro
Mateu Lahoz (comité valenciano). Amonestó con cartulina amarilla a Sergio Ramos (min. 9), Semedo (min. 43), Luis Suárez (min. 55), Marcelo (min. 56), Jordi Alba (min. 57) y Arturo Vidal (min. 88). Expulsó a José Ramón de la Fuente, entrenador de porteros del Barcelona, en el minuto 69.
Incidencias
Partido de ida de las semifinales de la Copa del Rey 2018-19, disputado en el Camp Nou ante 92.008 espectadores
Madrid took an early lead in this Copa del Rey semifinal first leg through Lucas Vazquez but Malcom equalised in the second half.
Lionel Messi, only deemed fit enough to star on the bench, came on after but Barca were unable to find a late winner at Camp Nou.
The two teams will meet in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Feb. 27 -- just three days before they meet in the league in Madrid.
Wednesday's game came just 101 days after Barca beat Madrid 5-1 in La Liga but a lot has changed since then. Santiago Solari, celebrating 100 days in charge, has replaced Julen Lopetegui for a start.
There were five changes to the Madrid side from that defeat, too. Barça, meanwhile, only made two. There was one constant, though: Messi didn't start. He was on the bench this time, mind.
Madrid were quicker out the blocks. Toni Kroos had already gone close when Lucas opened the scoring after good work from Vinicius and a glorious touch from Karim Benzema.
Los Blancos remained on top. Gerard Pique, brilliant on the night, twice blocked Vinicius shots when the Brazilian should have perhaps passed.
Led by Nelson Semedo and Malcom's link up on the right, Barca gradually came back into the game. The latter should have scored when sent through by Luis Suarez. Keylor Navas saved and the flag went up for offside but VAR would likely have reversed that decision. The Brazilian was onside.
Pique then headed over and Ivan Rakitic hit the bar, both chances coming from Malcom set plays.
Navas then tipped wide from Suarez after more good play from Malcom as Madrid ended the first half in front.
Barcelona were dominant from there on. Philippe Coutinho twice tried his luck from distance but it was Malcom who, deservedly, eventually levelled.
Clement Lenglet sent Jordi Alba through. Navas clattered into Alba, Suarez sent the loose ball against the post and Malcom, with work to do still, hammered into the empty net. All level on the night.
Messi then came on -- but he didn't look fully fit -- as Barca sought a winner.
Both sides had chances to win it. Gareth Bale, fresh on off the bench, spurned Madrid's best opening, while Messi sent a free kick into the wall and then saw another chance snuffed out by Navas.
Sergio Ramos was lucky not to get a second yellow for a late challenge on Arthur Melo as both teams seemed to settle for the draw. All to play for in Madrid later this month.
