Barcelona look to be en route to a second cup final in a row after they held Valencia to a 1-1 draw in the Mestalla stadium on Wednesday night. It could have different though had the referee seen Pinto clear the ball with his arm as he came out of his area with only a quarter of an hour on the clock, but the keeper stayed on to complete the match. A few minutes later he was beaten by Jonas after the Brazilian forward latched on to Mathieu's pass, but eight minutes afterwards Puyol equalised with a far post header from a Cesc Fàbregas corner, an important away goal if the tie is level at the end. Piatti fired a long shot over the top early in the second half, but Alexis had a strike ruled out for offside, and Messi went close before Barça were awarded a penalty when Miguel brought down Thiago inside the area. Diego Alves stopped Messi's spot kick however, and the local keeper saved again from Abidal a few minutes later. Piqué headed another good chance over the top and Dani Alves hit the post, but Valencia held fast to keep alive their hopes of a first cup final since they beat Getafe in 2008. Everything will now be decided next Wednesday in the Nou Camp. (01.02.12)
The cup this season has been full of surprises, and non more so than the achievement of Mirandés in reaching the semi-finals, only the third team from the second division B to do so (the others were Deportivo Logroño in 1931 and Figueres in 2002, both now disappeared). The club from the Burgos provincial town of Miranda de Ebro were up against 23 time cup winners Athletic Bilbao, whose B team play in the same regional division, and the Anduva stadium was packed to the rafters, with Spanish national coach Vicente Del Bosque one of the spectators. The dream though looked to be over when Fernando Llorente scored twice in the first half hour, the first a header from a De Marcos cross, and the second with a run which ended with a soft shot past keeper Nauzet. Muniain thought he had scored a third after the restart only to see his strike ruled out for a dubious offside, but soon afterwards Mújika hit the bar, and Iraizoz had to make the save of the night to keep out Caneda. Inspired by captain Pablo Infante Mirandés didn't give up, and with the game in injury time they got their reward, Lambarri turning a shot past the keeper after Mújika headed on Caneda's pass. It may not be enough to save the tie, but the crowd certainly liked it. Next week they're off to the San Mamés! (31.01.12)