After a couple of defeats in a row, Barcelona bounced back to winning ways as they secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over eternal rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.
Franck Kessie was the orchestrator of the only goal of the game for Barcelona on the night, although it went down as an Eder Militao own-goal.
The Ivory Coast international has had a slow start to life as a Barça player since arriving in the summer. However, he is gradually starting to grow into prominence within the team, especially in recent matches in the absence of Pedri.
Speaking after the game, Kessie spoke about his strike being awarded as an Militao own goal and stated that he was happy as long as the team won.
“I don’t mind if the goal was not counted as mine. The important thing is that the ball went into the back of the net and I could help my teammates,” the former AC Milan superstar said.
Highlighting on what was the difference between the two teams on the night, the Ivorian said: “The mentality. We were very strong mentally, defensively… We all fought hard for the team. We needed to win and we did it.”
“Beating Madrid at the Bernabeu is a dream come true, but we still have the return leg to go,” he added.
Barcelona’s defensive line comprising Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde, Marcos Alonso and Alejandro Balde put in a massive shift on the night.
While Araujo drew plenty of plaudits for the way he dealt with Vinicius Junior, Kessie pointed out Kounde and praised him for keeping Karim Benzema quiet.
“Kounde had a great match. He hadn’t played as a centre-back for a while, but that is his favorite position. It’s not easy to play against Benzema, a great player and a great goalscorer, but he did very well,” he said.
Marcos Alonso also interacted with the media after the game and pointed out that despite what was being said about Barcelona’s season following recent defeats, they were still enjoying a very solid campaign.
“The media talks a lot, but we are having a good season despite our loss to Manchester United,” he said.
The Spaniard was also mindful about the fact that semi-final tie is not fully over, with the second leg still to be played. But he backed Barça to succeed at home, backed by their fans, as he said:
“The second leg will not be easy, but we will have a small advantage and be with our home fans.”
Source: BarçaTV+
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