Complete farce in the Spanish cup this week, with Barcelona refusing to play their second leg tie with Atlético Madrid after the Spanish federation refused to postpone the match. Between international call ups and injuries (albeit with a smaller squad than allowed), Barcelona were only left with nine outfield players for the game. The two sides went through the formalities of lining up on the pitch before club captain Guardiola delivered to referee Diaz Vega a statement prepared by the club explaining their decision. Atlético were awarded the tie by default and Barcelona were fined two million Pesetas and banned from the competition for one year. The debate (and sundry appeals) still go on (see report for more details). Atlético's rival in the final will be Espanyol, who defeated a depleted Real Madrid with a single Martín Posse goal. Espanyol had rested players at the weekend in preparation, and clearly wanted to win more than their rivals, who have other more important priorities. Celebrating their centenary year, this will be the Barcelona based club's first cup final in 43 years. The final will be played in Valencia's Mestalla stadium on 27th May. Further controversy could ensue, as the match will coincide with the start of the European under 21 finals and several full internationals, both for the South American group of the World Cup and friendlies in preparation for the Euro 2000 competition a few days later. Attempts to reschedule were not successful as Royal commitments could not be changed (the final is traditionally played in the presence of the king of Spain, who gives his name to the competition). However, the federation were more accommodating this time, saying that the young players could join the Spanish squad after the final. Espanyol's Tamudo, Velamazán and De Lucas and Atlético's Capdevila and Gaspar could well be selected, but would then miss the opening game with the Czech Republic on the same day. That would still probably leave Cavallero, Pochettino, Santis, Galca, Molina, Ayala, Gamarra, Bjebl, Njegus, Hugo Leal, Paunovic, Valerón, Hasselbaink etc. etc. with problems.....

Reports are as follows:

Barcelona - Atlético Madrid: Barcelona abandoned (first leg 3-0 to Atlético)

Barcelona: Hesp; Déhu, Abelardo; Puyol, Guardiola, Sergi; Gabri, Xavi; Simao, Dani, ?????. 2-3-2-2-?. Substitutes: Arnau, ?????
Atlético: Team not published.

The inevitable happened in Barcelona on Monday night, with ten-man Barcelona refusing to play the second leg of this cup tie. The situation had been coming to a boil all week, with Barcelona asking for the second leg tie to be put back to the 16th May once they knew that many of their players had been called up for international matches. The Spanish federation refused outright at first, then decided they would bring the match forward to Monday 24th April. Barcelona argued that this would not help, as all of their international players had been asked to turn up for their countries by the latest Monday lunchtime. The final appeal fell on deaf ears, and after a long board meeting, the club decided that 'they would not take part in a farce', having only nine outfield players and two goalkeepers available. Notices were put out to fans asking them not to turn up and to the king of Spain (patron of the cup) explaining why they would not be playing, and the few supporters who had bought tickets were given their money back. In order to avoid a too heavy fine, the eleven players got changed and both sides appeared on the pitch, but Barcelona's players were asked by their manager to stand on the sideline and not enter the field of play. Club captain Josep Guardiola then delivered a prepared statement to referee Diaz Vega explaining the club's motives, and after the regulatory 30 minutes had passed, Diaz Vega waved everyone back to the changing rooms. That was when the fun began. The Madrid press accused Barcelona of cowardice, saying that they would never have pulled out if they hadn't lost the first leg 3-0. Barcelona press replied that favours had been given to Real Madrid to play the world club championship in January, and they had been allowed to miss a round of the competition, entering directly in the quarter finals. Such favours were apparently not available to them. Atlético Madrid and the pay-per-view television channel said they would take legal action for loss of revenue and unnecessary costs incurred, and Atlético president Jesus Gil pointed out that the English clubs had played on Monday with all their foreigners in the team. To make matters worse, only one of the six Dutchmen called up by Holland started the match. The matter went to the disciplinary committee, who accused Barcelona of a lack of foresight, having only filled 20 of their possible 25 squad places during the winter transfer period, and one of them being Amunike who is in dispute with the club. Vice president Joan Gaspart, defending the club, said that this was to develop the youth policy, with youngsters from the B team being drafted into the side as and when needed. However, under the cup regulations, only three could be used (a fact Van Gaal seemed unaware of when he had the chance to move Xavi, Puyol and Gabri up to the first team squad in winter). In the end the tie was awarded by default to Atlético, and Barcelona were fined the maximum two million Pesetas and banned for a year from the competition. No further sanction was applied, although they could have banned either Van Gaal or club president José Luis Nuñez for six months as the person responsible for the decision. The committee also ruled that the match would count towards Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's two match suspension, meaning the Dutch striker could play for Atlético in the league against Barcelona at the weekend. Barcelona said they would appeal for the semi-final to be played at a later date, and if Hasselbaink was to play in the next weekend's league fixture and their team lost, they would legally claim against the result. Who was right? Who knows, it probably depends whether you are from Barcelona or Madrid. In any case, with the calendar so full at the moment, and with the federation insisting in keeping 20 teams in the first division, it may work out for the best for Barcelona. They can now concentrate on more important competitions. Last year's beaten finalists Atlético Madrid go into this year's final looking for their tenth cup title of their history, although this will be small compensation if they are relegated to the second division. Meanwhile the federation have to get their act together, and turn this competition into something that is worthy of it's name and not just a second class tournament to fill a UEFA cup spot which everyone loses money on. They started this week by suggesting that the cup winners go in to the Champions League in future. Not a bad idea. Now, what about wider participation, single round matches, unseeded draws, a unified calendar etc., etc.?

Espanyol (0) 1 - Real Madrid (0) 0

Espanyol: Mora; Cristóbal, Nando, Pochettino, Roger; Velamazán (Navas 85'), Galca, Sergio, Arteaga; Martín Posse (Serrano 80'); Tamudo (De Lucas 88'). 4-4-1-1.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Geremi, Iván Campo, Julio César, Karanka (Ognjenovic 65'); McManaman, Redondo, Iván Helguera, Savio (Baljic 65'); Raúl, Morientes. 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 29. Posse. Took free kick from Sergio, turned Julio César and shot across goal

Espanyol made it through to their first cup final in 43 years, a fitting tribute in their centenary year. They did so beating an understrength Real Madrid side, who have always seen this as being a trophy worth having, but of lesser importance than the league or the Champions League titles. The attitude of the two sides was clear in the build up to the game, with Espanyol resting key players in their previous league game, whereas Madrid could not permit themselves the luxury. Only goalkeepr Cavallero, on duty with Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers, was missing from what could be considered their current strongest eleven. Madrid however only had 17 players available from their first team squad (including the maximum three youngsters Casillas, Aganzo and Zárate), with Roberto Carlos and Karembeu being called up by their countries and Anelka joining the injured list at the last minute with a tendon injury after playing football with his brother in his back garden. Salgado, Guti, Savio, Hierro and Sanchís were also injured. Playing on a criss-cross pitch, with the lines from the recent 'Barcelona Dragons' American football match still clearly visible, Espanyol dominated for much of the match. The 40,000 crowd roared their team on as they assaulted the Madrid goal in the first half, with only Casillas keeping them out. He could do nothing on the half hour however as Posse picked up Sergio's free kick, turned past Julio César and shot across the Madrid keeper. Thirty minutes later it should have been two, as Tamudo's shot bounced down off the crossbar and appeared to cross the line before rebounding clear. Referee Ansuategui Roca waved play on, with the Espanyol players claiming a goal. Del Bosque brought on Ognjenovic and Baljic knowing that a 1-1 draw would be enough for his team to qualify after the 0-0 draw two weeks ago, and Madrid finally started to play. Baljic had his side's best chance of the match in the last minute of injury time when he found himself alone in front of Mora, but his shot ran just wide of the post. Ansuategui blew his whistle almost immediately for full time, and Espanyol's players and fans celebrated. They have only won the cup twice in their history, in 1929 and 1940, and their last appearance in a final was in 1957. Atlético Madrid knocked them out of the cup last year, so they will be looking for revenge in the final on 27th May. It would be a fairytale end to their centenary season if they could win it, but then sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.