Barcelona’s unexpected reaction to facing Real Madrid in Copa del Rey

Barcelona and Real Madrid have faced each other twice till now this season. The first El Clasico of the campaign was won by Carlo Ancelotti’s team, who celebrated a 3-1 victory against their eternal rivals at Santiago Bernabeu. But the Catalan giants got one back, winning the Spanish Super Cup final by a 3-1 scoreline.

Now, the two sides are set to meet each other in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, in what is expected to be a blockbuster tie.

Real Madrid might have won the La Liga and Champions League double last season, but on current form, Barcelona are looking like the better side. And it looks like they are very confident when it comes to the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

As tweeted out by Sique Rodriguez, in the Barcelona dressing room they wanted the El Clasico.

Barcelona’s unexpected reaction to drawing Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey semis

Well, it looks like Barcelona have got what they wanted. And to be honest, it is not hard to see why they might be confident about their chances.

This weekend Barcelona went five points clear at the top of the La Liga table. They got themselves a 1-0 win over Girona, while Real Madrid could only manage a goalless draw against Real Sociedad despite putting up a good performance and being the dominant side on the day.

No matter what the situation though, it would be a mistake to count this Real Madrid side out at any time. It had looked like they were going to get knocked out of the last 16 itself, when they were 2-0 down to Villarreal at half-time. And then, it took a magical goal from Rodrygo to draw them level against Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals.

The thing is, this Real Madrid side knows how to find ways to win. They have done it time after time. And can do it against Barcelona as well, even if Xavi’s team might be slight favourites going into the tie.