Semi finals, first leg

Match played on 5th February

Deportivo La Coruña 2 - Mallorca 3

Deportivo: Juanmi; Manuel Pablo, Andrade, Donato, Capdevila; Sergio (Scaloni 60'), Duscher (Toro Acuña 72'), Mauro Silva, Amavisca (Makaay 46'); Diego Tristán, Luque. 4-4-2.
Mallorca: Leo Franco; David Cortés, Lussenhoff, Poli, Miguel Soler; Novo, Lozano (Robles 90'), Ibagaza, Riera; Eto'o (Carlos 87'), Pandiani (Marcos 85'). 4-4-2.

Goals:
0-1. 43. Pandiani. Headed past Juanmi from Novo's deflected cross.
0-2. 81. Pandiani. Placed shot past keeper following cross in from Ibagaza.
0-3. 82. Eto'o. Shot low across Juanmi from Riera's centre.
1-3. 89. Diego Tristán (penalty). After Poli brought down Tristán himself.
2-3. 95. Makaay. Got on the end of Tristán's cross to beat Leo Franco.

Reigning champions Deportivo La Coruña came from three down to score twice in the last minutes of their first leg tie against Mallorca to keep their hopes alive. Despite the importance of the fixture local manager Javier Irureta put out a side which included several reserve players, particularly in defence. Mallorca were also weak at the back though, and with Fernando Niño adding to the long injury list, Poli played as a central defender.

A floodlights failure delayed kick off by fifteen minutes, but when things did get going it was the visitors who were on top. Six minutes before the break they took the lead through Walter "the rifle" Pandiani, a player who ironically is on loan from Deportivo after failing to hold down a place in the side last season, the Uruguayan striker politely not celebrating the goal out of respect for the fans.

Irureta brought on Makaay to join Diego Tristán and Luque at the break, and the game hotted up. Novo hit the post and Juanmi made two vital saves from Eto'o, and Lussenhoff cleared off the line at the other end from Tristán. As the game progressed Depor took more risks, and they paid the price when Pandiani scored again, a long cross from Novo falling kindly to him after deflecting off a defender for him to beat Juanmi from close up. A minute later Eto'o added a third and it looked as if the Gallicians were going out of the competition.

However Diego Tristán won a controversial penalty from referee Esquinas Torres when he fell under Poli's challenge, which he converted himself with a minute of normal time remaining. And then Makaay narrowed the gap to one goal after he connected with Tristán's pass to clip the ball past Leo Franco in the fifth and final minute of injury time to at least give his side an outside chance. The second leg takes place in Mallorca's San Moix stadium in a month's time, the ground where Real Madrid fell in the last round, and with Deportivo involved in the Champions League around that time as well, Manzano's side must now be favourites for a place in the final.

Match played on 6th February

Recreativo Huelva 2 - Osasuna 0

Recreativo: Luque; Merino, Loren, Iker Begoña, Pernía; Camacho, Mario Bermejo; Javi García (Espinola 93'), Viqueira, Benítez (Quique Romero 75'); Xisco (Raúl Molina 67'). 4-2-3-1.
Osasuna: Unzué; Izquierdo, Mateo, Cruchaga, Paqui; Palacios, Muñoz, Puñal, Gancedo (Moha 91'); Morales (Iván Rosado 91'), Brit. 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 17. Benítez. Shot through crowded goalmouth after corner only partly cleared.
2-0. 92. Raúl Molina. Blasted shot past Unzué after Javi García headed ball on.

The league's oldest club Recreativo Huelva took a big step towards a place in the cup final after they defeated Osasuna 2-0 in their first leg semi-final. Neither side had ever reached the final before, with Recre only making it to one semi back in 1915 and Osasuna getting to this stage four times in the past, and there was an excitement before the game in the Nuevo Colombino stadium. The managers took differing approaches though, with Lucas Alcaraz going for broke and putting out his best side, whereas Javier Aguirre kept his confidence in the block of second string players who had got the side this far, holding back his best men for the struggle to stay in the top flight.

Both keepers had to be at their best in the opening minutes as the attacks rained in thick and fast, with Unzué saving from Iker Begoña and Benítez and Luque getting down low to stop a header from Cruchaga following a corner. However it was the home side who opened the scoring in the seventeenth minute, Benítez shooting through a crowd of players after Morales had failed to clear a corner from the left.

The open play continued into the second half, with Brit and Muñoz both going close in the opening minutes. However Brit lost his cool and insulted a linesman after he gave a decision against the young striker ten minutes in, and referee Rodríguez Santiago had no hesitation in sending him off. Aguirre's side still pushed forward though looking for the away goal, and Luque made two important saves in a minute from Morales and Muñoz.

Recreativo appeared to be happy to defend the result, although with the introduction of substitute Raúl Molina they went close to scoring a couple of times on quick counterattacks. Aguirre decided to make a double change in the last minute of normal time as a final throw of the dice, but before the new players had time to settle, Loren played the ball on for Javi García to head on into the path of the charging Raúl Molina for him to score a vital second goal. Recreativo must now be favourites to go through to June's final, and hopefully their success will give them some confidence to move away from the bottom spot in the league.