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Barca oust Real Madrid, reach ‘Copa’ semis

Comment: 0 January 26th, 2012

BARCELONA put an end to Real Madrid’s bid of retaining the Copa del Rey crown by doing what they do best against their bitter rivals – frustrate them during a crucial match.

The Catalans held the Los Blancos to a 2-2 draw in their quarterfinal second leg tiff on Wednesday to boot out the defending champions while advancing after a 4-3 aggregate.

Barca took last week’s opening leg 2-1 in Madrid and looked to finish off the visitors with gusto in front of a mammoth crowd at Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi fed substitute Pedro who shoved the hosts up in the 43^rd minute.

And it appeared Barca would be on the way to a walk-in-the-park win when Daniel Alves made it 2-0 in first-half added time after latching on a loose ball and sending a rasping drive into the top corner past Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

However, Madrid, who won the crown 1-0 last year behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s extra-time header, clawed their way back gallantly.

Ronaldo got a superb pass from Mesut Ozil and scored in the 68th minute while substitute Karim Benzema made the equaliser four minutes later.

Both squads searched for the go-ahead goal in the latter stages until Madrid defender Sergio Ramos was banished for a second yellow card.

The Catalans then just milked the clock to seal their advance.

In the semifinals, Barca will face either Valencia or Levante who tackle each iother on Thursday.

During the post-game news conference, a passive Madrid coach Jose Mourinho told reporters: “We came here with the hope and the motivation of winning. If you want I will congratulate Barcelona for the win last week. I am happy to do that as they deserved to win.”

With the latest result between both rival teams, Barca boss Pep Guardiola extended his dominance over the Catalans. Guardiola has now won nine “Clasicos” and lost just once, during the 2011 Copa final, in 14 matches since taking the coaching chores in 2008.

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