Real Madrid vs Barcelona, ​​live! El Clasico scores, Copa del Rey updates

Real Madrid and Barcelona meet in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinals and both sides find themselves in slightly different places en route to the latest installment of their incredible rivalry.

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Carlo Ancelotti watched his side beat Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield in the Champions League last week and they fought back at home to 10-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga at the weekend to earn a draw. Real beat Barcelona 3-1 in the La Liga clash between the two teams earlier this season but they are currently seven points behind leaders Barcelona. If they get a big win in the first leg, it could be a big psychological boost for Real ahead of the run-in.

As for Barca, well it hasn’t been a great week for the Catalan club. Kicked out of the UEFA Europa League by Manchester United, they suffered some serious injuries and suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Almeria as they missed a chance to extend their lead at the top of La Liga. It’s not all bleak as Xavi’s project is still going strong and Barcelona are the big favorites to win the Spanish title again.

Here’s everything you need for the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals at the Santiago Bernabeu, while the second leg takes place at the Camp Nou on Wednesday 5 April.

How to watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona live, stream link and start time

Kickoff: 3pm ET, Thursday (March 2)
Updates: Stats and Analysis via NBCSports.com
Online: Stream via ESPN+

Major storylines and in-form players to watch

Veteran Luka Modric continues to defy logic with his performances in midfield, while Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema were in good form up front. Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga have also been outstanding in recent weeks. Defensively, Real have few options but Nacho has used admirably as a full-back.

The story goes on

Barcelona continue to work on hacking and changing their team but they will be without top scorer Robert Lewandowski due to injury in this clash. Gavi and Pedri are important to how they play under Xavi but the latter is absent which is also a major blow. A special thank you to goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as Barcelona’s defense have only conceded eight goals in 23 LaLiga games so far this season. Eight.

Real Madrid team news, injuries, line-up options

Ferland Mendy is still out, while David Alaba suffered a hamstring injury against Liverpool and will not return until early April. Rodrygo is doubtful after suffering a hip injury.

Barcelona team news, injuries, line-up options

Xavi will be without a trio of key players as Robert Lewandowski, Pedri and Ousmane Dembele are all absent. Ansu Fati is also a question, so there’s a lot of pressure on Raphinha and Ferran Torres in attack.

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Real Madrid vs Barcelona, ​​live! El Clasico Results, Copa del Rey Updates originally appeared on NBCSports.com