Barca thump Sevilla to reach Copa del Rey semis

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, January 31, 2019
Adjust font size:

FC Barcelona overturned a 2-0 first leg defeat to book their place in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey with a 6-1 win over Sevilla in the Camp Nou on Wednesday night to claim a 6-3 aggregate triumph.

Sevilla rued a missed penalty in the first half which could have totally changed the complexation of the tie.

Barca opened the scoring from the penalty spot themselves with Philippe Coutinho slotting home after Leo Messi had been caught by Roque Mesa as he prepared to shoot.

The home side then had goalkeeper Jaspar Cillessen to thank for two great saves in the 27th minute. First the keeper reacted to tip an Andre Silva back-heel onto the post and then pushed Ever Banega's penalty wide after Pique had brought down Mesa as the move continued.

It was the first penalty Barca had conceded all season, the first time Banega had failed from the spot after 13 attempts and the first penalty the Barca keeper had ever saved.

That was an expensive miss as Barca leveled the tie four minutes later when Ivan Rakitic got enough of a touch to fool Sevilla keeper, Juan Soriano and tip Arthur's through ball into the back of the net.

Barca still had work to do, but two goals in two minutes early in the second half turned things decisively their way.

First, Coutinho headed home Suarez's cross in the 53td minute and with Sevilla still groggy, Sergio Roberto's shot from Messi's pass made it 4-0.

Guillerme Arana then scored a powerful shot for Sevilla to leave the visitors a goal away from qualification, as Barca appealed in vain for a penalty for handball in the other area.

Messi should have made it 5-1, but his shot from close range following great work from Suarez was brilliantly saved by Soriano.

He sent another shot just wide, while Sergio Roberto clipped the ball over the bar as Barca tried to kill the tie off, but it was not until the 89th minute that Suarez was on hand to finish a counter-attack led by Messi and aided by Jordi Alba to assure Barca's qualification.

Messi then rubbed salt into the wound when he scored Barca's 6th of the night in injury time.

Betis, who learned on Monday that this season's Cup final would be played in their Benito Villamarin Stadium, came back from a goal down to beat Espanyol 3-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate.

Leo Baptistao put Espanyol ahead in the first half and it was not until 14 minutes from time than Giovani Lo Celso leveled the tie.

Espanyol were reduced to 10 men in the last minute of normal time when Marc Roca was shown a second yellow card and Betis took advantage of the extra man with Sergio Leon and Aissa Mandi scoring the goals to take them into the last 4.

Tuesday saw Valencia score two injury time goals to also qualify for the final in dramatic fashion with a 3-1 win against Getafe.

Defending a 1-0 first leg win, Getafe had opened the scoring through Jorge Molina in the first minute, leaving Valencia needing to score 3 goals to qualify but Rodrigo Moreno drew them level on the night with 30 minutes remaining and then added two late goals after Djene had harshly been sent off for Getafe to see Valencia through.

The game ended with chaotic scenes with blows exchanged between players of both team and security staff and two further players (Bruno and Mouclar Diakhaby sent off after the final whistle).

Thursday sees Real Madrid defend a 4-2 first leg lead away to Girona.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
ChinaNews App Download
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter