barcelona to meet athletic bilbao in cup final
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Barcelona to meet Athletic Bilbao in Cup final

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Barcelona to meet Athletic Bilbao in Cup final

Villarreal's Mateo Musacchio and Mario (L)
Madrid - Arab Today

Barcelona eased into the Copa del Rey final as they completed a 6-2 aggregate win over Villarreal with a 3-1 win at El Madrigal on Wednesday.
Luis Enrique's men will face Athletic Bilbao in the final for the third time in five years on May 30 after the Basques beat Espanyol 2-0 to progress 3-1 on aggregate.
Neymar had missed a penalty in Barca's 3-1 first leg win three weeks ago, but made amends after just three minutes when he turned home Lionel Messi's cross.
Jonathan dos Santos gave the hosts hope with an equaliser on the night against his old club, but Villarreal's chances of a famous comeback faded when Tomas Pina was shown a straight red card for a heavy challenge on Neymar.
Luis Suarez slotted home his 11th goal of the season to make it 2-1 before Neymar rounded off the scoring from Xavi's cross late on.
"I am very happy to be in the final again and we have to congratulate the team," said Neymar.
"Villarreal are a great team with a lot of high-quality players. We knew it was going to be a difficult game and that is why we started so well. We scored very quickly and that helped us."
However, victory also came at a cost as Sergio Busquets was stretchered off in the first-half with a high ankle sprain that could keep him sidelined for a significant couple of weeks with Barca set to face Real Madrid in La Liga on March 22.
"It is the bad news of the night without a shadow of a doubt," said Enrique.
"I can't give a diagnosis before the doctors look at him. We know he will be out for a while, how long the doctors will decide."
Enrique started Javier Mascherano and Suarez despite both being one yellow card away from missing the final and that decision was vindicated inside three minutes as both were involved in the move that let to Neymar's opener.
The ball eventually found its way to Messi and his tantalising in-swinging cross was looped over Sergio Asenjo by the Brazilian captain.
Villarreal refused to be beaten despite that early setback as Ikechukwu Uche fired into the side-netting, whilst Marc-Andre Ter Stegen denied Luciano Vietto and Denis Cheryshev.
Marcelino's men finally got their reward when Dos Santos slotted home Jaume Costa's cross at the back post six minutes before the break.
And Barca suffered a further blow as Busquets had to be stretchered off after Pina stood on his right ankle in the build-up to the goal.
Villarreal's momentum was lost 20 minutes into the second period, though, when this time Pina was punished for a dangerous challenge on Neymar from behind.
Suarez then scored for the third consecutive game as he latched onto Mascherano's ball over the top and kept his composure to round Asenjo before rolling the ball into the unguarded net.
And Neymar notched his second of the night with an easy header from another sumptuous cross, this time from Xavi.
Athletic ensured there wouldn't be a Barcelona derby in the final as first-half goals from Aritz Aduriz and Borja Etxeita gave them a comfortable advantage.
The 23-time winners will be hoping it is third time lucky against the Catalans having lost 4-1 and 3-0 to Pep Guardiola's Barca in 2009 and 2012.
Source: AFP

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

barcelona to meet athletic bilbao in cup final barcelona to meet athletic bilbao in cup final

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

barcelona to meet athletic bilbao in cup final barcelona to meet athletic bilbao in cup final

 



GMT 10:52 2017 Wednesday ,18 January

Clocks 'failed' onboard Europe's navigation satellites

GMT 23:15 2017 Sunday ,17 December

Mohamed bin Zayed receives President of Montenegro

GMT 11:54 2017 Sunday ,12 November

Nawaz Sharif holds meeting at Jati Umra

GMT 04:54 2017 Saturday ,14 October

Syrians should decide Assad's fate: UN envoy

GMT 00:13 2017 Thursday ,23 November

President expresses grief over martyrdom of Maj. Ishaq

GMT 10:11 2017 Wednesday ,18 October

Venezuela poll results a 'strong message' to US, allies

GMT 13:20 2017 Sunday ,19 February

Actor Bassam Ali rejects works violating ethics

GMT 13:06 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

Super Rugby has plenty to tackle in 2017

GMT 15:03 2017 Saturday ,11 March

Iraqi forces storm Old Mosul from 3 axis

GMT 15:55 2017 Tuesday ,25 July

Morocco’s coach underlines difficulty

GMT 10:49 2016 Saturday ,03 December

Australia's Maxwell fined for 'disrespectful' teammate

GMT 12:58 2017 Sunday ,27 August

Consumers warned against random abattoirs
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday