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Copa del Rey, semi-finals, first leg

A city of Barcelona cup final is on the cards after good results by the two teams from the Condal city in their semi-final first legs. FC Barcelona kicked off the evening with a 3-1 victory over Villarreal, Messi opening the scoring after Luis Suárez set him up shortly before the break. Trigueros made it all square at the start of the second half with a long shot which went through the hands of Ter Stegen, but less than two minutes later Iniesta restored the lead with a low shot past Asenjo, and Piqué headed the third from a Messi corner a quarter of an hour later. It could have been more though had Asenjo not saved Neymar’s penalty later on after Musacchio handled in the area. Espanyol meanwhile drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao in the second match of the evening, although they will probably feel that they should have come away with a victory after failing to convert several chances after the break. Aduríz celebrated his 34th birthday with the opening goal, running on to a De Marcos pass to chip Pau López in the tenth minute, but Víctor Sánchez volleyed in a spectacular equalizer some ten minutes before the interval. (11.02.15)

Barcelona 3 - Villarreal 1

Barcelona kicked off the semi-finals of the Spanish Cup with a 3-1 victory over Villarreal, a tenth win in a row for Luis Enrique’s side. Messi failed to find the target a couple of times before opening the scoring shortly before the break, turning a shot past Sergio Asenjo after Luis Suárez won the ball off Musacchio to set him up. Ter Stegen was not really tested until he had to turn a Vietto shot round the post on the stroke of half time, but at the start of the second half Trigueros made it all square with a long shot which went through the hands of the keeper. Less than two minutes later however Iniesta restored the lead with a low shot past Asenjo after a passing move with Suárez, and Piqué headed the third from a Messi corner a quarter of an hour after that. It could have been more had Asenjo not saved Neymar’s penalty later on after Musacchio handled in the area, although the visitors had a couple of chances to reduce the gap as well, Giovani heading wide from a corner and Mathieu bravely flinging himself to the ground to block a shot by Moi Gómez.

Athletic Bilbao 1 - Espanyol 1

Espanyol are favourites for a place in this year’s cup final after they drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday evening, although they will probably feel that they should have come away with a victory after failing to convert several chances after the break. Aduríz celebrated his 34 th birthday with the opening goal, running on to a De Marcos pass to chip Pau López in the tenth minute, but Víctor Sánchez volleyed in a spectacular equalizer after Aurtenetxe could only clear a Sergio García cross to him some ten minutes before the interval. Muniain curled a shot just wide soon afterwards and Aduríz went close soon after the restart, but otherwise the Catalans dominated the second half, with Sergio García lobbing the ball onto the crossbar and Stuani firing a shot just over the top. Substitute Caicedo also missed an easy chance after the ball deflected to him in front of goal, and Víctor Alvarez headed a Lucas Vázquez cross against the upright with the keeper beaten.