Valencia draw Barcelona in Copa del Rey semis first leg
February 2nd, 2012 - 4:45 pm ICT by IANSMadrid, Feb 2 (IANS) FC Barcelona and Valencia drew the first leg of their Spanish Copa del Rey semi-final 1-1 at the Mestalla Stadium.
Valencia opened the scoring through Jonas Goncalves, only for Carles Puyol to equalise for Barca with both goals coming in the first half of a highly contested match Wednesday.
With his side having looked visibly tired last Saturday in Villarreal, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola chose to rest key players Xavi Hernandez and Dani Alves, with Isaac Cuenca, who signed a new contract with the club starting in attack, Xinhua reported.
Barcelona could have been down to 10 men after just 18 minutes when goalkeeper Jose Pinto touched the ball just outside of his penalty area to deny Valencia striker Roberto Soldado a scoring chance.
The result is not a bad one for Barcelona, who will qualify for the final if the score remains 0-0 in next Wednesday’s return leg.
Tuesday saw Athletic Club Bilbao win 2-1 away to Mirandes in the first leg of their semi-final clash and the Basque side are now clear favourites to reach the final.
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- Real defend lead, Barca try to catch up in La Liga - Feb 02, 2012
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- Real Madrid extend La Liga lead - Nov 21, 2011
- Torres dropped by Del Bosque for friendly - Feb 24, 2012
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- Spain coach Del Bosque names Euro squad - May 27, 2012
- Barcelona's Alves to miss cup final with broken collar-bone - May 17, 2012
- Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona vie in Copa del Rey final - May 24, 2012
- Questions to answer as Barcelona entertain Valencia - Sep 01, 2012
- Fatigue and injury problems for Spain - Jun 02, 2012
Tags: athletic club bilbao, barca, carles puyol, copa del rey, cuenca, dani alves, fc barcelona, feb 2, goncalves, jose pinto, last saturday, mestalla stadium, new contract, pep guardiola, return leg, roberto soldado, spanish copa del rey, striker, villarreal barcelona, xinhua