Leaning forward in his winter coat, Lionel Messi on Wednesday fidgeted with an empty water bottle as he watched his Barcelona teammates trailing their fiercest rivals, but minutes before he decided to test his tender right leg, the chants at the Camp Nou for “Messi” turned into cheers as a little-used teammate scored an equalizer against Real Madrid.
Malcom’s second-half goal left their Copa del Rey semi-final poised 1-1 after the first leg, with Madrid going home with a slight away-goal edge for the return game later this month.
“The tie is wide open, there is no clear favorite,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said. “Given the caliber of the two sides, there is still a lot to be said.”
Photo: EFE
Having picked up a leg injury after scoring twice in a 2-2 draw with Valencia in La Liga on Saturday, Messi stayed on the bench until the 64th minute.
The Argentine then came on and did not show any signs of an injury when he plucked the ball from Casemiro’s boot, raced forward and was fouled by a scrum of Madrid defenders near the penalty area.
He stayed on the turf to gather himself, before he smashed his free-kick into the wall, but other than an opening goal by Madrid forward Lucas Vazquez and Malcom’s equalizer, El Clasico was more of a clunker.
It was the first of three matches between Spain’s most successful clubs in less than a month. The second leg of the semi-final in Madrid is on Feb. 27, just before their La Liga game at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 3.
“Today he felt fine, but we thought it would be better that he waited until the second half,” Valverde said about Messi. “When he went out he had the chance to be decisive. Each time he touched the ball we could see the reaction he provoked in our rivals.”
In October last year, Messi missed Barcelona’s 5-1 rout of Madrid in La Liga, a stinging loss that sealed the fate of former Real coach Julen Lopetegui.
This time out, Madrid made sure to set a strong tone from the opening minutes, when they maintained possession long enough to get in front.
The highlight duel was between Barcelona rightback Nelson Semedo, who got the most of Madrid youngster Vinicius Jr with more than one skillful dribble, but the 18-year-old did provide the key pass for the visitors’ goal in the sixth minute when he spotted Karim Benzema at the far post defended by undersized Jordi Alba.
Benzema won the ball after Alba failed to reel it in and the Real Madrid striker sent a low pass across the goalmouth where Vazquez slipped around Clement Lenglet to redirect it home.
“I am not surprised [by Vinicius] because I have known him since he arrived here,” said Madrid coach Santiago Solari, who coached Vinicius Jr in the B team before he started featuring him after he replaced Lopetegui. “That an 18-year-old kid plays like this is surprising because it doesn’t happen often.”
As Madrid sat back to protect the advantage, Barcelona began to find holes in their defense.
Ivan Rakitic headed Malcom’s free-kick off the crossbar in the 32nd minute and Luis Suarez drew a one-handed save from goalkeeper Keylor Navas after Malcom bungled his way through three defenders before setting him up on the edge of the area.
Malcom pulled the hosts level in the 58th minute when he curled a left-foot strike from an angle into the net with Navas off his line.
Lenglet’s long pass to Alba streaking into space forced Navas off his line to strip the ball, but it fell to Suarez who hit the post, before Malcom gathered the rebound and finished it off.
It was the 21-year-old’s third goal since joining Barcelona in the summer from Girondins de Bordeaux.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS