Barcelona beat Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu, with a tight 1-0 victory. Barcelona will naturally be the happier of the two, but the statistics show that neither will be entirely happy with their showing.
The Blaugrana were solid in defence, but could not hold onto the ball after rebuffing the Real Madrid attack. Even Xavi Hernandez was critical of his own side, Ferran Torres and Raphinha were rendered ineffective by the Real Madrid press. According to Misterchip, the 35.6% of possession that Barcelona had is their lowest figure since 2008 under Frank Rijkaard. 861 matches later Real Madrid achieved a higher degree of domination than anyone else.
#OJOALDATO – El Barcelona ha firmado hoy su peor dato de posesión de balón (35.6%) en un partido oficial desde que Guardiola llegó al club azulgrana en 2008 (861 partidos oficiales disputados desde entonces).
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) March 2, 2023
Yet their domination was lacking in penetration. Despite their heavy possession, and 13 shots, Los Blancos did not register a shot on target. The closest they came were shots from outside the box, as well as a disallowed Karim Benzema finish for offside.
Misterchip also reports that this is the first time since shots on target have been recorded that Real Madrid have not recorded a single shot on goal at the Santiago Bernabeu. That dates back to 2008, spanning 15 years and 338 matches.
#OJOALDATO – El Real Madrid no ha realizado ni un sólo remate a puerta en un partido oficial disputado en el Santiago Bernabéu por primera vez desde que se computan este tipo de estadísticas (hablamos de 15 años en los que el conjunto blanco ha jugado 338 partido en el Bernabéu).
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) March 2, 2023
