Recap of the action for the second Copa del Rey Semi-Final Leg between Valencia and Barcelona
As expected, the advantage earned in the first leg was enough for Barcelona to progress to yet another Cope del Rey final, their sixth in the last eight seasons. But despite heavy rotation, Barcelona still managed to set a new record for the longest unbeaten run in club history, besting Pep Guardiola’s mark of 28. It wasn’t looking good for Barcelona, who for the most part struggled to gain much traction and trailed from late in the first half after an Alvaro Negredo goal. But late in the second half Barcelona drew level courtesy of Wilfrid Kaptoum’s first goal for the first team.
| Valencia | Barcelona | |
| Possession | 36% | 64% |
| Total Shots | 12 |
13 |
| Shots on Target | 5 |
3 |
| Corners | 3 | 4 |
| Fouls | 19 | 17 |
| Offsides | 0 |
1 |
| Yellow Cards | 4 |
2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
With the game deemed a mere formality after Barcelona won the first leg a week ago by a score of 7-0, both managers decided to rest starters. Luis Enrique left all of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Sergio Roberto, Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta, Claudio Bravo, Dani Alves and Arda Turan out of the match squad. The Barcelona starting eleven was therefore much changed, as several rarely used players got a chance to start the game. Sergi Samper of Barça B also started while several of his B team teammates watched from the bench, where Juvenil A player Carles Aleñá was also hoping for his senior debut.
As expected in a game in which everybody was waiting for the final whistle and both teams featured several youngsters/reserves, neither side showed much on the pitch. Barcelona looked likelier of the two to score in the early stages of the game. There weren't an awful lot of Barça players that showed much hunger, but one that consistently did, at least early, was Munir El Haddadi.
In the opening minutes Munir was constantly looking for the ball and tried to find an open teammate for a chance. In the 4th minute he nicely found Sandro Ramirez open on the edge of the area for a shot, but he directed it will over the crossbar. Munir continued to be lively, but to some extent due to poor movement from his teammates he couldn't create much more.
Valencia really only had their pride to play for, and maybe Neville's job, but against a Barcelona defense that featured several fringe players chances were always going to be created. The hosts had their first good look on goal in the 22nd minute when Negredo was looking to find a wide open Santi Mina in front of goal, but a diving clearance from Jeremy Mathieu prevented the celebrations. Six minutes later Valencia would threaten again, this time through a counter attack, but Fran Villalba's perimeter shot whistled just over the crossbar.
While Barcelona continued to control possession, poor choices on the ball often resulted in short attacks leading to little to no chance creation. The visitors would have a few chances from free kicks, but all of them went begging. The best one came in the 44th minute, but a completely unmarked Munir couldn't direct Adriano Correia's cross into the back of the net to tie the game. Yes, tie the game as five minutes earlier Negredo actually managed to score a goal. But it wouldn't come without some help from lady luck as Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved the Spaniard's initial attempt, but the rebound came back to Negredo who was then left with a simple empty-net finish.
The second half started with no substitutions and similar play from both teams as Barcelona continued to control the ball and Valencia looking for their chances from quick counters. When they attacked, Valencia found it fairly easily to penetrate Barcelona's defense, though the final pass was lacking for the hosts as ter Stegen was rarely tested. Barcelona, on the other hand, struggled mightily against a defense on paper weaker than in the first leg. Though in the first leg Barcelona did feature a "slightly" deadlier attacking trio.
The first really dangerous attack of the second half for either side didn't come until the 66th minute, when Adriano and Munir combined on the left, before the latter found Ivan Rakitić who skipped past two defenders and fired a strong shot on goal, but Jaume Domènech made a good save. Valencia would first threaten ter Stegen in the 74th minute, after a well-taken Danilo free-kick from a dangerous spot, but the young German was there to make the save.
In the 76th minute, Lucho made a pair of changes, taking off Rakitić and the captain Adriano, and replacing them with Juan Camara and Douglas Pereira. Five minutes later Kaptoum took the place of Sandro Ramirez. The substitutions proved a masterstroke as the trio of subs combined to tie the game in the 84th minute. On the left side, Douglas played Camara behind the back-line who went on to find Kaptoum wide open in the middle and the youngster finished the play off with composure not seen in many players much more experienced. Three minutes later, Camara sent another perfect cross to the middle, this time finding Munir, but the young Spaniard couldn't emulate the young Cameroonian.
That proved to be the last good chance either team would create and Barcelona ran out a deserved 8-1 winners on aggregate. Their opponent in the final will be known tomorrow when Celta Vigo and Sevilla meet for the second time, with Sevilla holding a four goal lead. Possible dates for the final are 21 and 22 May.
Roll Call:
| Roll Call Info | |
|---|---|
| Total comments | 461 |
| Total commenters | 48 |
| Commenter list | AllAboutStyle, Anders Thomassen, AngusLB, Anirudh_Kul, AraibKarim, Ashraf Arefin, AzBlaug, Barca4ever, Barca4lif, BarcaBarca, Bingiboy, Charlie-xto, Delano Heerkens, ElasticFan, FCBMSN, GreyGhostIniesta, Iniesta08, JA Besche, JordiBalboa, KiwiBarca, LeoMessy, NamesTroyResideInTheDMV, PatrickJM6, Patty Mills for three.. BANG, Petter Premberg, Piyush_, SUMYTH90, Saur Bino, Sawban Busquets :D, Som-i-Serem, Steven Cordero, TheGodfather21, VarmaFCB, Yuro_Doosh, chrisolin65, craig00000, dewoul, feeya7, getreus, iamacule, knorkinator, lefty808, mightyobie, msalmanz, saltylures, semperty, vireyda, watervapr |
| Story URLs | |
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anders Thomassen | 46 |
| 2 | Piyush_ | 42 |
| 3 | Som-i-Serem | 41 |
| 4 | AllAboutStyle | 38 |
| 5 | chrisolin65 | 31 |
| 6 | Ashraf Arefin | 31 |
| 7 | NamesTroyResideInTheDMV | 26 |
| 8 | Delano Heerkens | 25 |
| 9 | Yuro_Doosh | 18 |
| 10 | KiwiBarca | 15 |
| 11 | feeya7 | 15 |
| 12 | AngusLB | 14 |
| 13 | FCBMSN | 11 |
| 14 | craig00000 | 10 |
| 15 | TheGodfather21 | 9 |
| 16 | Saur Bino | 8 |
| 17 | msalmanz | 7 |
| 18 | BarcaBarca | 7 |
| 19 | AzBlaug | 6 |
| 20 | Sawban Busquets :D | 5 |
| 21 | semperty | 4 |
| 22 | Patty Mills for three.. BANG | 4 |
| 23 | mightyobie | 3 |
| 24 | vireyda | 3 |
| 25 | VarmaFCB | 3 |
| 26 | Petter Premberg | 3 |
| 27 | iamacule | 3 |
| 28 | Steven Cordero | 3 |
| 29 | saltylures | 2 |
| 30 | AraibKarim | 2 |
| 31 | JordiBalboa | 2 |
| 32 | dewoul | 2 |
| 33 | Iniesta08 | 2 |
| 34 | knorkinator | 2 |
| 35 | Charlie-xto | 2 |
| 36 | ElasticFan | 2 |
| 37 | Anirudh_Kul | 2 |
| 38 | getreus | 2 |
| 39 | Barca4ever | 1 |
| 40 | lefty808 | 1 |
| 41 | JA Besche | 1 |
| 42 | SUMYTH90 | 1 |
| 43 | LeoMessy | 1 |
| 44 | Barca4lif | 1 |
| 45 | GreyGhostIniesta | 1 |
| 46 | Bingiboy | 1 |
| 47 | watervapr | 1 |
| 48 | PatrickJM6 | 1 |
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