Previewing the Clasico: The line-ups, Messi, doubts, Vinicius, VAR...

The second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night will be one of those matches that is pinpointed at the end of the season as being decisive, either in a positive or negative sense.

The winner will go on to the final and face either Real Betis or Valencia, while the loser will be filled with disappointment after losing to their most bitter rivals.

The 1-1 scoreline from the Camp Nou means that the match is very open going into the second leg and that will no doubt result in a fascinating spectacle on the pitch, just three days before they face off again in LaLiga Santander, also at the Bernabeu.

The two coaches, Santiago Solari and Ernesto Valverde, come into the game in a good frame of mind.

For Valverde, he saw his side twice come from behind as they beat Sevilla 4-2 away, which eased a few of the doubts that were starting to creep in, particularly after a toothless performance against Lyon in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions League. There is the possibility of the treble at Barcelona this season and the club will hope that Valverde's recent contract extension brings some stability going into the final stretch of the season.

Solari, for his part, has managed to recover a team that looked doomed earlier in the season. The home defeat to Girona on 17 February was a step backwards, but the team have a foot in the next round of the Champions League and will like their chances of reaching the Copa del Rey final.The doubtsBoth coaches have almost an entire squad to choose from, yet there are still a few doubts coming into the first Clasico of the week in terms of who should start..

- Who would you prefer Barcelona to play at right-back ?

Ramos screaming to Madrid players after third goal : let’s not let them score 6 made my day lol.
Re-match today.

Ramos should have seen red already....

What pisses me off is that the "VAR" doesn't even check it. And Carvajal's handball as well.

That was a soft penalty, not sure if intentional. I guess not. But Madrid kept diving and should have seen yellow, specially Reguilon and Ascencio blatant dive.
Got Vinicius in the pocket, pressed Benz very high and went rock solid in set pieces...Valverde owned Solari tactically who focused on Messi and let wings empty, where Rakitic goal came from. Lol Ramos was covering an hypothetical pass to Messi while Rakitic was getting a highway. Players stepping up in those circumstances is something I wanna see more often.

This is what happens when your team can't finish chances. FFS.

Apparently Vinicius is a Latin name that has is roots in the Latin word "vinum" ("wine"). Looks like you fellas were right.

^ Probably sour grapes, no ? :d

Very much a bad season for Real in Spain. Lets hope for their sake things goes better in europe.

Last year they were pretty crap in La Liga too, but flew in UCL. Although, it didn't looked this bad :(.

I miss Zidan and Ronaldo.

Solari's tactic never felt that dangerous to Barca, and on top of that, Real was terrible finishing their chances which could potentially change d the game

Solari's tactic never felt that dangerous to Barca, and on top of that, Real was terrible finishing their chances which could potentially change d the game

T.J I felt that Real had many chances though. It wasn't so much that Barca were good, but they sorta knew Real wouldn't score. It was an average Barca performance IMO. Any other LA liga striker would have scored a goal v Barca on those two matchdays.

Well, Barca deserve a bit of credif for its defense, I've rarely seen their defender throw themselve to the ground this much to block point blanck shot. Still think Real need to use this results to realize they aren't clinical enough. They need someone else than Ronaldo to finishes to chance, its suck to say but despite being a very solid team, they are lacking that.

They escaped from drawing Barca In every CL they won since 2013, let’s hope we draw them before getting eleminated by a random team lol.

CL competition shouldn't be single merit to determine wether the club is best in the world. If the club has won domestic league and CL then they are truly best.

We won 2012 CL, and I don't think we were best in the world. We really did put an incredible fight against all odds, but to win knockout competition you need a bit of luck. Not to take anything from players because majority is their hard work, perseverance and thrive to win it.

To summarize, yeah maybe Real would have lost the CL if they had met Barcelona or maybe not, but one thing for sure Real has won only 2 La Liga titles in the last 10 years. It just shows that Real has turned into better knockout team then long distance competition team. There is crisis in the management of the team how to handle season long competition. Maybe that is why Zizou left, understanding that he won't have Ronaldo anymore nor will he be provided with necessary players, so why ruin the legacy and instead just leave on high note.

CL competition shouldn't be single merit to determine wether the club is best in the world.

That may be true if a club wins one CL competition out of the blue. But 4 in 5 years? I think that's more than enough merit to be the best in the world.

If Real wins it this year? Will they be considered best team in the world?

I agree completely with Markus here.

Real is NOT the best team in the last 5 years, despite wining CL back to back. They dont have the long run in La Liga, can even win it there.

To win UCL or Europa League you must be great and lots of luck with your track to the final.

The claim definitely needs both!!!

You can't be the best in Europe if you can't consistently win the league

If Real wins it this year? Will they be considered best team in the world?

That question doesn't hold much value now does it. :P

Best team in the world ? All I know is that Madrid is our bit** past seasons... lmao

@tiki Please man, show a bit more respect. Sure you mostly dominated them in the past la liga season but there were also time where you got beaten by them. Thing can turn quickly in football as well.

I wonder what will happen to Barcelona when Messi and Suarez leave. Then Busquetes retires.. it should kill the dynamics in the team.