Barcelona held Valencia 1-1 at the Estadio Mestalla to continue their unbeaten streak of 29 matches and advance to the Copa del Rey final, their third straight and sixth final in the last eight years. The goals came from Alvaro Negredo and Wilfrid Kapatom.
A bit dull in Valencia
In the first half at the Estadio Mestalla, there were plenty of chances to make the second leg as high scoring as the first.
Sandro and Munir both had good chances inside the opening stages, with the latter especially creative on the night, but neither hit the target and tested Jaume Doménech.
Valencia, on the other hand, had their first sniff at goal in the 22nd minute when Pablo Piatti was ready to play the ball to Santi Mina, but defender Jeremy Mathieu was able to get the ball away in time before it reached the Spanish forward. Piatti had a chance himself shortly after, but it went wide of Marc Andre ter Stegen’s goal.
It would be the hosts who took the lead though, Negredo chipping the ball to the side of Ter Stegen to give Valencia the lead six minutes before the break. However, needing at least six goals to level the aggregate score, it was merely a consolation in the two-legged tie for his side.
Still no win for Valencia
Valencia had chances to add to their lead in the second period, but they couldn't. Mina headed wide of the mark in the best of these opportunities, but Barcelona also lacked a clinical touch as Ivan Rakitic’s shot went wide of Doménech’s goal. The Croatian would come closer to goal some seven minutes later when he curled a shot goalwards, but the ball went straight into the hands of Doménech.
Danilo forced ter Stegen into a fingertip save as we entered the final stages of the game, whilst Piatti also continued to pose problems albeit ones that lacked a cutting edge as he again shot wide.
After all their missed chances, Valencia would surrender their lead in the final minutes of the game as their wait for a win under Gary Neville goes on. A ball in from Juan Camera found new kid Wilfrid Kapatom, who scored on his Barcelona debut with his first touch just two minutes after coming on the pitch.
It was a goal that had no influence on the game or its final result, but it will be a memorable one for Kapatom who helped extend his side's unbeaten run as they reached their sixth Copa del Rey final in the last eight years with an aggregate win of 8-1.
Barcelona will now await the winner of Sevilla and Celta Vigo to learn their opponents in the final, though it should be the Europa League champions Sevilla, who won the first leg 4-0.