FOOTBALL NEWS

Copa del Rey:  Madrid & Barca Play Out Draw.

Barca and Madrid draw 1-1 in first leg of Copa del Rey semi-final 

Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Malcom's second-half goal cancelled out a sixth-minute opener from Lucas Vazquez and ensured there will be plenty to play for in the return fixture on February 27.

Copa del Rey: Barcelona, Real Madrid get quarter-final opponents [Full draw] 

With Lionel Messi fit enough only for a place on the bench, the onus was on Barca to show they could cope without their talisman in the first of a difficult run of fixtures this month.

Madrid went ahead with the second shot of the match, though, Vazquez twisting his body to flick the ball beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen from Karim Benzema's drilled cross.

Barca, Real battle to draw in Copa del Rey version of El Clasic

Barcelona found the equaliser 57 minutes in, however, when Sergio Ramos, having brilliantly cleared a Suarez effort off the line, allowed Malcom's strike on the rebound to fly past him and into the net, apparently convinced it was going wide.

Messi and Gareth Bale were introduced from the bench, and it was the Madrid man who missed the best chance for a winner, failing to make the most of Benzema's pass after Ter Stegen had been left stranded.