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Tag: Copa del Rey

  • Malcom equaliser earns Barca draw with Madrid in Copa del Rey

    Malcom’s spectacular equaliser earned Barcelona a draw against rivals Real Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final at the Nou Camp.

    Real went ahead through Lucas Vazquez in the sixth minute following a brilliant assist from Karim Benzema.

    Holders Barcelona, who started without Lionel Messi, had stuttered in attack despite the efforts of a bright Malcom.

    And the Brazilian deserved his goal to line up a mouth-watering second leg at the Bernabeu on 27 February.

    Barcelona, who are aiming for their fifth Copa del Rey in a row, lacked fluidity going forward – and the inspirational Messi.

    And with Gareth Bale also left on the bench for Real it was two Brazilian youngsters – 18-year-old Real forward Vinicius Junior and Malcom, 21, who took centre stage.

    Vinicius, who joined from Flamengo for £38.7m in 2018, caused plenty of problems for Barcelona’s defence with his pace and dribbling.

    He set up Real’s goal – delivering a cross from the left to the feet of Benzema who passed to Vazquez for a simple finish – and had more shots (four) in the first half than the entire Barcelona team.

    Malcom’s wicked curling free-kick found Ivan Rakitic who headed against the crossbar in the 31st minute.

    The former Bordeaux forward then pounced for the equaliser in the 57th minute following a scrappy period of play which saw Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas block a charging run from Jordi Alba.

    Luis Suarez picked up the ball and saw his shot blocked on the line before Malcom brilliantly smashed home the rebound.

    This was the first of three El Clasico meetings in February, with Real much improved from their 5-1 thrashing the last time the sides met in La Liga in October.

    Real have the chance to move above city rivals Atletico Madrid in La Liga with a derby win on Saturday, while leaders Barcelona travel to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

    BBC

  • Barca to battle Real Madrid in Copa del Rey semi-final

    Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid, will battle in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey this season, after the draw was conducted on Friday afternoon.

    Real Betis will take on Valencia in the other game.

    Barca overturned a two-goal deficit from the first leg of their quarter-final against Sevilla, to win 6-3 on aggregate.

    Meanwhile, Los Blancos reached the last four, after securing an emphatic 7-3 aggregate victory over Girona.

    The draw has given football fans two El Clasicos, with the first leg to be played on February 6 and the second leg on February 27.

    The final will take place on May 25 at Betis’ home ground, the Estadio Benito Villamarín.

  • Sevilla stun Barcelona 2-0 in Copa del Rey

    Sevilla stun Barcelona 2-0 in Copa del Rey

    Sevilla produced a brilliant second half display to beat FC Barcelona 2-0 in their Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg match on Wednesday.

    The result left the title-holders with an uphill task to reach the last four.

    After an even first 45 minutes, strikes from Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder stunned the Catalans.

    The goals left them needing a second leg comeback at the Nou Camp for the second consecutive round in the competition.

    Barca, who earlier in the day announced the signing of Frenkie de Jong from Ajax Amsterdam, handed a debut to loan signing Kevin-Prince Boateng.

    Yet it was Sevilla — spurred on by a raucous home crowd — who looked the more threatening throughout.

    The Andalusian side were incensed when a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review deemed Barca’s Arturo Vidal had not handled Ever Banega’s cross after half an hour.

    Replays indicated the ball had struck the upper part of the Chilean’s arm.

    A persistent threat throughout, Ben Yedder fired narrowly wide after a mesmeric solo run, before being denied by a smart save from Barca goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.

    At the other end, Malcom fired wide after rounding Sevilla goalkeeper Juan Soriano against the run of play on the stroke of halftime.

    It was all Sevilla after the break, and Pablo Machin’s side took a deserved lead just before the hour.

    Quincy Promes drove down the left before crossing for Sarabia, who fired in a half-volley from six metres out.

    French forward Ben Yedder then doubled their lead from close range with quarter of an hour to go.

    He celebrated by lifting his shirt to reveal the message “For my brother Sala”.

    It was in reference to Argentine striker Emiliano Sala, who is currently missing after the plane he was travelling on disappeared over the English Channel.

    The second leg takes place next Wednesday.

    Espanyol take on Real Betis and Real Madrid host Girona on Thursday in the remaining quarter-final first legs, after Getafe defeated Valencia 1-0 on Tuesday.

    NAN/Reuters

  • Girona knock Atletico out of Copa del Rey in six-goal thriller

    Girona knock Atletico out of Copa del Rey in six-goal thriller

    Atletico Madrid crashed out of the Copa del Rey to Girona on Wednesday following a highly entertaining 3-3 draw at home to the Catalan side.

    Girona sneaked through to the quarter-finals on away goals after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate.

    Atletico substitute Antoine Griezmann looked to have completed a late turnaround for Diego Simeone’s side, who were trailing 2-1 in the second half.

    He put the hosts 3-2 up in the 84th minute.

    Yet Girona forward Seydou Doumbia delivered a final twist in the saga by scoring at the other end four minutes later.

    Croatian forward Nikola Kalinic had fired Atletico Madrid into an early lead.

    But the packed Wanda Metropolitano stadium was stunned into silence by a jaw-dropping volley from Girona winger Valery Fernandez in the 36th minute.

    Atletico Madrid, already missing several first-team regulars to injury, lost Spain midfielder Saul Niguez to a muscle problem early in the second half.

    They suffered another setback soon after when Cristhian Stuani headed Girona in front following a free kick.

    This sparked furious but futile protests from Atletico Madrid who claimed the Uruguayan had fouled their captain Diego Godin.

    Griezmann came off the bench on the hour mark and soon threaded a pass towards Kalinic which Argentine winger Angel Correa squeezed under Girona’s goalkeeper to equalise.

    Godin then hit the crossbar and Santiago Arias had a goal ruled out for offside as Atletico Madrid chased a winner.

    France forward Griezmann prompted wild celebrations when he smashed into the roof of the net.

    But the mood was soon punctured by Doumbia, also a substitute.

    He poked home a shot from Borja Garcia to send Girona through and dump out Atletico, who have not won the Copa del Rey since 2013.

  • Coutinho’s first goal fires Barcelona to Copa del Rey final

    Philippe Coutinho came off the bench to score his first goal for Barcelona as they reached the Copa del Rey final with a 2-0 win at Valencia, progressing 3-0 on aggregate.

    Coutinho was brought off the bench at half-time for his fifth appearance since his £142m switch from Liverpool last month and scored four minutes after the restart, sending the ball into the corner of the net having slid to meet Luis Suarez’s cross.

    Ivan Rakitic, also teed up by Suarez, then added the visitors’ second in the 82nd minute to secure progress to a showdown against Sevilla in what will be defending champions Barcelona’s fifth consecutive Copa del Rey final.

    Lionel Messi – restored to the side having only made a substitute appearance in the 1-1 La Liga draw at Espanyol on Sunday – saw an early free-kick saved by Jaume Domenech.

    Barcelona then had a scare as Rodrigo headed against their bar around the quarter-hour mark. Valencia threatened again in the 28th minute when Rodrigo’s shot was saved by Jasper Cillessen.

    Messi hit an effort just wide, and the closing stages of the first half saw Suarez miscue a shot inside the box, allowing Domenech to gather, before Valencia’s Geoffrey Kondogbia sent a shot into the side-netting having combined with Daniel Parejo.

    Barcelona changed things at the interval by bringing on Coutinho for Andre Gomes, and the Brazilian made a near-instant impact as he got his right leg to Suarez’s cross from the left to send the ball across Domenech and in.

    Suarez then curled an effort wide before Valencia substitute Carlos Soler went close at the other end, shooting the wrong side of the post.

    Barcelona were soon back on the front foot and Messi’s shot was parried by Domenech, with Gabriel and Ezequiel Garay then thwarting Messi and Rakitic.

    Coutinho tried his luck from outside the box, with Domenech making the catch, and Cillessen pulled off a superb save to deny Jose Luis Gaya.

    Rakitic then confirmed it would not be Valencia’s day as he lashed in having received the ball from Suarez, who had claimed possession by seizing on a misplaced Gabriel pass.