Barcelona vs Real Madrid, El Clasico live broadcast: commentary of the Copa del Rey, chain, lists, score prediction

Messi is & 100% & # 39;

Barça badistant coach Jon Aspiazu Gol"We did not want to take any chances – Messi, it's 100%, but we preferred that he start on the bench, he could arrive at any time."

Ben Hayward is at camp Nou for standard sport

Lionel Messi is on the bench only for Barcelona in the Clasico clash tonight against Real Madrid at Camp Nou.

The Argentine striker was treated for a thigh problem in the 2-2 draw against Valencia in the Liga on Saturday and was replaced by Malcom in the starting lineup for the Copa del Rey first leg semi-final tonight. .

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen starts in goals while Jasper Cillessen misses a calf injury and the rest of the Barca's training is as planned, with Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez in the attack alongside Malcom in the ### Absence of Ousmane Dembele, who was left out of the group while recovering from an ankle problem.

Coach Ernesto Valverde has opted for Nelson Semedo on the left-back, perhaps to fight the pace of Vinicius Junior.

The Brazilian in form makes his debut with Clasico for Real Madrid alongside Karim Benzema and Lucas Vazquez. Gareth Bale is the only one to replace him.

Marcelo returns to the left rear to replace Sergio Reguilon. Toni Kroos was reinstated in midfield after a break Sunday against Alaves. Marcos Llorente was chosen ahead of Casemiro in the role of defensive midfielder.

As usual in the Cup, Keylor Navas starts in goals.

No lionel messi

It seems that Ernesto Valverde decided not to risk his star man. Lionel Messi is only among the substitutes tonight,

News from the team

We are half an hour away from the team news at Camp Nou …

Real Madrid are coming to this Clasico on a string of seven wins in their last eight games, with their only loss to the return leg of their 16th draw in this competition against Leganes, with a qualification in the bag.

On the other hand, when they arrived at Camp Nou earlier in the league, they were only one victory out of five.

Barca starts slowly

Barcelona has taken the bad habit of slowly starting in the first legs of the tie during this year's competition, although often with a weakened team.

They started with a disconcerting 1-0 win over third-tier club Cultural Leonesa and lost the first leg against Levante and Sevilla. They may not be running after an advance to the Bernabeu in a few weeks.

Flags are left on every camp seat Nou tonight.

What do bookmakers say?

Betfair has Barcelona as 3/4 of favorites to win tonight's games, with Real at 10/3 and draw 29/10.

The Barca are also favorites to win the entire competition, at 11/10, with the second favorite Real 9/4.

We are less than two hours away from the team and it will be really intriguing to see what the two managers decide to do.

Real Madrid is probably more in need of this competition than Barcelona, ​​given its position in the league.

However, they also have a derby in Madrid on Saturday, while Barca does not play until Sunday, as they travel to Athletic Bilbao.

The other game going in the semifinals will be held tomorrow night, when Real Betis will be the host of Valencia.

The Betis have an additional motivation this season, the final taking place in their Stadium Benito Villamarín.

"Rashford could flourish in Barca" – Kluivert

According to Patrick Kluivert, Marcus Rashford enjoys a successful revival post Jose Mourinho under the direction of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. He has the necessary attributes to succeed in Barcelona.

English striker Rashford has flourished since the change of direction at Old Trafford. He became a regular player in the starting lineup and scored six goals in 10 games, including the first winner of the 1-0 win at Leicester on Sunday.

However, former Barcelona star Kluivert admits that taking the start of Manchester's Rashford would be a difficult task.

"I love Marcus Rashford a lot," he told sport360. "It will be really difficult to convince him, but he is a good player.

"I do not see many players who can play in Barcelona. There is not much. Maybe some players can play in La Liga, young players.

"But for me, I think the best is Marcus Rashford."

A feast of clasicos

Tonight marks the first of three Clasicos in a month, an enticing proposition.

But this is nothing compared to the glorious race of four Clasicos in 18 days at the end of the 2010/11 season.

The race started with a 1-1 draw in La Liga, before the additional goal of Cristiano Ronaldo won the Copa Del Rey for Madrid.

However, it would be Barcelona who had the last word, winning the first leg of their semi-final in the Champions League 2-0 at Bernabeu, before a 1-1 draw in the second leg sent them to the final at Wembley.

Chew Clasico's numbers

matches: 239

What Barca would miss without Messi

Lionel Messi loves Clasicos. In fact, he has scored 26 goals and 14 badists in 38 games against Real Madrid since his debut in 2005.

Despite his incredible record against Los Blancos, Messi has never scored in the Copa Del Rey against the Spanish giants.

He hopes to fix it tonight if he is the starting lineup. The 31-year-old has a thigh injury against Leganes and it looks like it will be touching and going up to the send-off to see if the Argentine wizard is able to play.

Barcelona may have won 5-1 in the league match in October, but Real Madrid is different now. Armed with Messi, their chances of winning another victory at Camp Nou would be considerably higher.

Madrid relieved while Dembele misses

The pressure on the shoulders of this talented 21-year-old was not his fault. Ousmane Dembele was remarkably good at football; he certainly did not ask to cost 96.8 million pounds.

Naturally, this pressure was right for Dembele in his first season and he scored only three goals in La Liga. But after being adapted to life at Camp Nou, the French winger shows everyone what he is talking about.

The winger has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season – the best return of his career – and this is only in February. That includes a man of the match against Leganes and a brace against Levante in the last round of the Copa Del Rey.

Dembele is ruled out of the first leg of the Copa Del Rey semifinal after failing to recover from injury – and Real Madrid will be relieved. His pace, his dribbling skills and his ability to create a chance for anything will not be missed in Barcelona.

Ramos satisfies penalties

Sergio Ramos is pleased to be the Real Madrid shooter and says he does not want to disrespect anyone with his Panenka style.

The 32-year-old has scored nine goals this season, including seven from the penalty spot, after being acquitted of the task previously badumed by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Valverde facing tough choices

Ernesto Valverde has the dilemma that every world football coach would like to have. As a Barcelona coach, the Spanish has an abundance of world-clbad players and can only select 11, so some big names are left out.

For example, at the back right, he can choose between the versatile Sergio Roberto or the speed dealer Nelson Semedo. The former shone in Real Madrid's 5-1 fight in October, but Semedo has played 14 games in La Liga this season.

In midfield, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic are about to take the start, leaving last place in midfield three. Arthur showed his true abilities with a phenomenal performance at the last Clasico, while Arturo Vidal scored some crucial goals this season.

And finally, the question of Messi. Is Valverde likely to have his star man aggravate his thigh injury in a match that may not be necessary?

Five things you did not know about Copa Del Rey …

+ The best scorer of all time of the competition is Telmo Zarra (81), a goal machine that spent 15 glorious years at Athletic Bilbao between 1940-1955. He led the Basque Copa formation for three consecutive years during the Second World War, as well as La Liga in 1943.

+ Lionel Messi The strike in the 6-1 win over Sevilla was his 50th in the competition – the sixth highest total behind Zarra, Josep Samitier, Guillermo Gorostiza, Quini and Edmundo Suarez. He will equal Suarez's total with two other goals.

+ Barcelona have won the contest for four consecutive years and 30 times in total. real Madrid have triumphed 19 times as winners, but surprisingly, they lost 20 times in the final.

+ In the very first final, Athletic Bilbao defeated Madrid FC (renamed Real Madrid) 3-2 in 1903.

+ When real Madrid won the Copa in 2011, Sergio Ramos Accidentally left the trophy 15 kg from the top of a double-decker bus, which then flew over it. The club has received a copy, which is now on display in Santiago Bernabeu. Oh Sergio …