Barcelona and Real Madrid meet again in a Copa del Rey semi-final, in this case at the Camp Nou. The azulgranas arrive as outstanding leaders before a Real Madrid that begins to wake up, precisely a situation similar to the one lived in 2013.
While the 2013-14 Cup final, Bale's goal, is the last time Barcelona and Real Madrid have seen each other in the Copa del Rey, you have to go back another year in time to find the last time these two giants saw each other's faces in the semifinals.
The showdown of the semifinals of 2012-13 served to make the 'meringues' take revenge for the elimination at the hands of the Catalan team just a year earlier.
Those were very prolific years in 'Clásicos', with Barcelona and Real Madrid seeing their faces a minimum of four times per season. In 2010-11, Barça and Whites would meet up to five times! between Liga, Champions and the Cup final. The 2011-12 and 2012-13, with the Spanish Super Cup, would raise the number of confrontations to six.
After the aforementioned elimination in 2012 (1-2 at the Bernabéu and 2-2 at the Camp Nou) in the quarterfinals, Real Madrid could take revenge in the semifinals of 2012-13.
Also that match came the white people disconnected in the league. More if possible than in the current campaign. Before the first leg, which was played at the Bernabéu, Barcelona had almost ruled the league championship, with eleven points ahead of Atletico Madrid and 15 in relation to whites.
The sensations of those of Mourinho, yes, were getting better. Overcome their many setbacks of the beginning of the league, came to the appointment after thrashing Valencia (0-5) and Getafe (4-0). Barça did it after adding their first defeat in San Sebastian (3-2) and also beating Osasuna home (5-1).
All in all, the Barcelona of Vilanova was favorite for the cross butte. The club was still taking the measure to Madrid in the heads up. Thus, it was not strange that the 'Culés' monopolized the best chances of the first leg at the Bernabéu. But they missed the goal.
Xavi and Cesc had the clearest in the first half, although Real Madrid could also advance in several isolated actions well resolved by Pinto, always with Cristiano Ronaldo as the protagonist.
After the 0-1, scored by the own Fàbregas, the Barcelona felt better and pardoned the sentence in two rides by the right of Pedro and Alves that could not culminate in goal the canary and again Cesc.
Real Madrid, very much alive, would tie the final with a nice header from Varane, but the feeling left by the clash was that Barcelona had a good result and was still favorite for the return.
That semifinal had the peculiarity that it was very spaced in time. He spent almost a month from one game to another. And in him, Real Madrid continued taking tone, with Barcelona also showing firm in the league championship.
The Catalans, yes, took a good romp in Milan (2-0) in Champions and it seemed that the team was running out of gas at the most important time of the season.
Thus, on February 26, 2013, Real Madrid visited the Camp Nou and the match was completely opposite to that seen a month ago in Chamartín. Cristiano Ronaldo, a penalty, then signed the 0-1 and Barcelona came the world over.
The Catalans not only were not able to equal the goal, but in a deadly backlash from Mourinho, with a sidereal Angel Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to beat Pinto.
Varane, as the icing on the cake, put the 0-3 and finished sentencing a shock that would still see the both of the local honor, scored by Jordi Alba in the closing stages.
The Whites would reach the final, which would be played in their stadium, and they would fall in it 2-1 against Atlético de Madrid in the match that, de facto, would sentence José Mourinho on the bench of the Bernabéu.
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