Marc-andré ter Stegen and Barcelona have reached the final of the Copa del Rey after the Catalan club drew 1-1 with Valencia in their semi-final second leg. In the first leg, a week ago, Barca dominated Valencia at the Nou Camp in a 7-0 thrashing. Due to Barcelona’s strong position going into this game, Coach Luis Enrique decided to rest some of his top players, meaning that Lionel Messi wasn’t in the squad along with strike partners Neymar and Luis Suarez.
As usual in the Cup, ter Stegen was in goal and he put in a pleasing performance. Alvaro Negredo put Valencia ahead in the 39th minute, but Wilfred Kaptoum equalized in the 84th minute, two minutes after coming off the bench. Valencia were without World Cup winner Shkodran Mustafi for the game, after his red card in the first leg. Barcelona will most likely face off against Sevilla in the final, as they are taking a 4-0 lead into the second leg of their semi-final clash against Celta Vigo on Thursday (20.30 CET).
PSG reach quarterfinals
In France, Kevin Trapp can also start dreaming of winning the Cup. His club Paris Saint-Germain took their chance to make it into the quarterfinal of the Coupe de France with a confident 3-0 win over defending champions Lyon. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a brace and Adrien Rabiot killed the game off. Coach Laurent Blanc decided not to play Trapp in the game, instead bringing Salvatore Sirigu in between the posts, just like in the previous rounds.
In the quarterfinal of the Turkish Cup, Galatasaray won into their first leg clash against Akhishar Belediye 2-1. Meanwhile Besiktas, who were without the rested Mario Gomez, lost to Konyaspor 2-1. In Akhistar, Galatasaray played without the still injured World Cup winner Lukas Podolski and found themselves chasing the game, after Hugo Rodallega put the hosts ahead in the 53rd minute. Although the visitors managed to steal the game in a three minute passage of play, through an own goal by Douglas and a goal from Seluck Inan. A similar thing happened in Konyaspor, with Cenk Tosun putting table toppers Besiktas ahead in the 31st minute. However, after Marcelo’s sending off, they conceded twice, from Riad Bajic and Volkan Findikli, making 2-1 to Konyaspor.
Liverpool knocked out of FA Cup
Liverpool were knocked out of the F.A cup in their fourth round replay against West Ham, after losing 2-1 in extra time on Tuesday night. Angelo Ogbonna decided the game with his header in added time at the end of extra time, putting West Ham through to the next round. In the first game, on 30th January, Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw.
After Michail Antonio gave the hosts the lead shortly before the break, Philip Coutinho equalised with an ingenious free kick. The Brazil international hit the ball under the wall as it jumped. Although when it seemed like the game was set to be decided by penalties, Ogbonna hit the back of the net. Emre Can was not in Liverpool’s squad for the game.