COPA DEL REY
FC Barcelona Camp Nou home record means Madrid must beat the odds to win the Copa Del Rey semi-final
Real Madrid need a result only Bayern have achieved as the visiting team at Camp Nou. The other 17 teams’ results would see them knocked out.
Xavi’s Barcelona side have turned Camp Nou into an impenetrable fortress. They have only lost one match at home in the whole of the season until now: Bayern’s visit in the Champions League, where they knew that they had been all but eliminated beforehand thanks to a 3-0 loss at the Allianz Arena, remains the only black mark.
Since then, 26 October, only two teams have come out ‘alive’: Espanyol (1-1) and Rayo Vallecano (2-2): the rest have left then Catalan coliseum with nothing to show for their efforts. Before then, it was Rayo again (1-1) and Inter (3-3) who had managed to scrape a result in the culé stadium.
Barça’s home record in LaLiga is almost perfect
In any case, none of these results would suffice for Real Madrid this week in the Copa del Rey semi-final, given the fact that they lost 0-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu. The only result of those seen so far at Camp Nou is that of Bayern.
The balance of fortune in Camp Nou this season favours the blaugrana: they have played 18 games and won 13, drawn 4 and lost just once; they have scored 36 goals and conceded just 9. Of these 18 games, 13 have been in LaLiga, 4 in Europe and one in the cup.
As of now, it is in the league where Barça have been the most dangerous, racking up 11 wins and 2 draws; in Europe they have tended to shine less, coming away with 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss. They won the only cup game they have played at home 1-0, against Real Sociedad, thanks to a solitary goal from Ousmané Dembélé.
The culés have played their part from the stands
Ancelotti’s side have only played one game at Camp Nou so far this season, a match in which they may have seen any remaining league title chances slip from their grasp. It was just over 2 weeks ago, and Real Madrid lost 2-1 after a late Kessié goal sealed the deal, leaving Los Blancos 12 points off the top.
There is no doubt that the fans are having an important role to play in the record that is being put up at the stadium: Camp Nou has the highest average attendance across Europe this season with numbers that go over 75,000. They also hold the record for the highest number of fans at a stadium this season, against Real Madrid, with 95,745 fans attending the match.
