A hard-fought stalemate and a spectacular comeback highlighted the last round of the Copa del Rey. As the King's Cup arrives at it's quarterfinals, only 2nd-division Real Betis resembles a cinderella story. Yet as the magic of an underdog fairy tale disappears, the stage is set for the hype of a battle of the titans.
The most evenly matched ties were the ones I was most looking forward to: Barcelona - Athletic and Valencia - Villareal. (Upon reflection of the score, the Mallorca - Almería draw was rather even as well.) The Barca - Athletic match turned into a hard-fought stalemate while the battle of the killer Vs (they'll sting ya!) started slow but yielded fireworks.
Athletic de Bilbao plays with more heart than almost anyone in Spain's first division, so I wasn't surprised that they corked Barcelona's prolific offense. The Basque defense held strong the first match to salvage a 0-0 tie in Camp Nou.
Athletic's hustle looked to be paying dividends in their home tie as well as they stifled Xavi, Messi and co.for most of the match. Unfortunately for them, Eric Abidal, who had never scored for Barcelona, ended his drought putting a ball into the back of the San Mames net. Athletic fought back valiantly, tying the game at 1 on Llorente's goal. Unfortunately, they couldn't get a second goal and Barcelona advanced on away goals. (In the event of a tie after 2 matches, the team with more away goals goes through to the next round.)
The Valencia - Villareal matchup was more enticing and more rewarding. Valencia and Villareal are local rivals separated by a mere 65km on Spain's East Coast. Valencia is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia. Villareal is a virtual suburb of Castellon, a city which serves as the capital of one of the community's sub regions. Think parental-favorite big brother, Valencia, meets younger, more financially successful sibling, Villareal.
This matchup started slowly with a 0-0 draw in Valencia. Things looked good for Los Che when they went up 2-0 in Villareal going into halftime. Then the tide changed. A thrilling start to the second half saw Villareal get 2 goals in 3 minutes. Once on top, the men in yellow played the pretty football that has put them third in the Spanish league to win convincingly. There's some beautiful goals here, so this is our video of the post.
There were several other interesting matches in octavos de final. Real Madrid pounded modest Levante 8-0 to equal Barcelona's total against Almeria in league play. Madrid lost 0-2 in the away leg but the game was meaningless.
Almeria made themselves the sentimental favorite of the tournament, winning 4-3 in both their home and away legs. This despite their lowly position in the La Liga table (currently tied for last in La Liga).
Sevilla went through with a flurry of goals against Malaga, winning their home match 5-3 and then mopping up 3-0 in Malaga.
The last round also served up a tie between the league's vice royalty, Espanyol - Athletico de Madrid (the alternative teams in Barcelona and Madrid respectively). Kun Aguero made the difference and Athletico goes through to the next round.
Here's where things get good. Athletico went through only to meet in-town rivals Real Madrid. The colchoneros are over matched by Mourinho's squad but they should still deliver passionate, fast-paced football. I'm looking for Flores' attack-minded squad to liven up Mourinho's typical defensive cup stance.
Perhaps even better will be the Villareal - Sevilla draw. As mentioned above, Villareal is playing heroic football. They are probably the best team per Euro (dollar) in Spain. Sevilla hasn't managed to solidify their back line since the coaching changes of late last season (and early this season) but they can score. Look for Kanoute and O Fabuloso, Luis Fabiano, to make this one interesting.
The winner of the Villareal-Sevilla match plays the winner of the Madrid derby.
On the other side of the table, Barcelona plays Betis in a rematch of the Ronaldinho era Supercopa. They'll play the winner of Deportivo - Almeria.
If the favorite wins through in each draw, and they should, the final will be between Barcelona and Real Madrid. It could be one of 4 Clasicos in April and May. Get ready for a wild Spring.
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