Florentino Perez fears decline at Real Madrid because of three Barcelona players - Reports

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez reportedly fears a decline at the club because of three Barcelona players.

As reported by Spanish outlet El Nacional, Perez is incredibly concerned regarding the decline of Los Blancos.

The Real Madrid president saw his attackers struggling to make life difficult for the Barcelona defenders on Thursday in the Copa del Rey.

The two La Liga giants locked horns against each other in the first leg of the semi-final of the Spanish cup competitions.

Los Blancos, despite being the dominant force against their bitter rivals, couldn't find a way past the Catalan giants and ended up losing 0-1.

The second leg takes place at Camp Nou on April 5 and Florentino Perez is reasonably concerned regarding the outcome.

The Real Madrid president is particularly worried as Barca beat his side despite missing three key players who will all be available for the reverse fixture.

Key midfielder Pedri, key man in attack Robert Lewandowski and creative outlet Ousmane Dembele all missed the game with injuries.

However, with all three of them set to return for the second leg, Carlo Ancelotti's side cannot afford to leave too much space between their midfield and defence.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior was completely pocketed by Barca's Ronald Araujo while Karim Benzema was dealt with comfortably by the duo of Jules Kounde and Marcos Alonso.

Depending on the outcome of the season, Florentino Perez could make some big decisions in the summer.

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Real Madrid star insists they dominated Barcelona despite 1-0 loss

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has claimed that Barcelona didn't deserve their 1-0 win against Los Blancos on Thursday (March 2) night.

Carlo Ancelotti's side hosted the Blaugrana in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid lost the game 1-0, with Eder Militao scoring an own goal in the 26th minute after Courtois had saved Franck Kessie's effort on goal.

Kessie's shot was one of the only two shots on target for Barcelona whereas Real Madrid recorded 13 shots, but not a single one on target.

Following the game, Courtois remarked that the Blaugrana did not deserve their win. TVE after the game (as quoted by ESPN):

"We dominated the game today. (Barcelona) were quite defensive. We were really unlucky to concede the goal. They won the ball. I saved (the shot), and it rebounded off Militao and went in. They were leading when they didn't deserve to. It was hard for us to create chances. It's difficult. We played a good game; We were in control, but we didn't get the chances. They defended well."

The return leg between the two Spanish giants takes place at Camp Nou on April 5.