Barcelona came out firing on all cylinders to take control of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Atletico Madrid at a packed and passionate Vicente Calderon.
Two first half goals justified Barca’s status as the betting websites’ favourites to lift the Copa, while also lowering the betting odds on Messi and friends winning the cup. But a second half header from Antoine Griezmann kept Atletico in the tie.
Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
Latecomers were still taking their seats and mobile betting fans still making their first bets when Luis Suarez scored a sensational solo goal to send the Barca fans wild. Picking the ball up in Atletico’s half he skipped past four defenders before sliding it past a helpless Moya.
And the home keeper could only watch when Lionel Messi doubled the lead with a stunning strike on 33 minutes into the top left corner of his net.
Griezmann brought the tie back to life for Atletico, rising above the Barca defence to head home on 59 minutes and then, with increased tempo, the game became end to end amidst a flurry of yellow cards. Messi almost restored the two-goal lead with a curling free kick and Fernando Torres came within a whisker of equalising with a flicked header.
Celta Vigo 0-0 Alaves
This was a great result for Alaves in the first leg of the second semi-final as Celta Vigo’s premier hit man Iago Aspas failed to break the visitors’ resistance. He came mighty close several times and was frustrated by a great save by Fernando Pacheco before hitting the woodwork as Celta piled on the pressure. This tie is in the balance now.
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