Spanish Copa Del Rey 2015 Results: Scores for 1st-Leg Quarter-Final Fixtures
Barcelona took 85 minutes to force the breakthrough against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, but took their chance late on to force an edge in their Copa del Rey quarter-final.
A second leg in Spain's capital next week means their semi-final berth is far from sealed, but at least the Catalan giants have reason to air a sigh of relief.
Elsewhere, Villarreal took a first-leg advantage from their quarter-final against Getafe, but Malaga and Athletic Bilbao couldn't be pulled apart in their meeting.
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Read on for a breakdown of all this week's quarter-final first-leg results, along with more in-depth discussion of Wednesday's results.
| Wednesday, Jan. 21 | Barcelona | 1 - 0 | Atletico Madrid |
| Wednesday, Jan. 21 | Malaga | 0 - 0 | Athletic Bilbao |
| Wednesday, Jan. 21 | Villarreal | 1 - 0 | Getafe |
| Thursday, Jan. 22 | Espanyol | 3 - 1 | Sevilla |
Espanyol 3-1 Sevilla
Espanyol will take a two-goal advantage to Seville next week after dismantling Unai Emery's Sevilla side 3-1 on Thursday evening to give their Copa del Rey chances an injection of hope.
Felipe Caicedo, captain Sergio Garcia and on-loan Real Madrid winger Lucas Vazquez were all on target for Los Periquitos in what Spanish newspaper Sport rightfully dubbed a deserved victory:
It took Caicedo 18 minutes to bag the game's opener, but Espanyol kept knocking at Sevilla's door, pressing to advance their lead in the hopes of making light work of the return leg.
Even at 2-0, the Daily Mail's Rik Sharma supposed that Sergio Gonzalez's men may not have the lead necessary to survive their upcoming test at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan:
"Espanyol are playing very well, close to getting a third. Taking 2-0 to Sevilla might not be enough
— Rik Sharma (@riksharma_) January 22, 2015"
Sharma's assertion may be correct too after Carlos Bacca struck in added time to give Sevilla a crucial first-leg consolation that could prove pivotal over the course of both meetings.
Defending their lead now becomes a priority for Espanyol, hoping to slay their second giant after beating Valencia in the previous round.
Barcelona 1-0 Atletico Madrid
Barcelona struck at the death to take a 1-0 victory from the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final tie against Atletico, with Lionel Messi converting an 85th-minute penalty to claim their edge in the fixture.
Atletico Madrid may have come away from the Camp Nou content with a 0-0 stalemate prior to next Wednesday's return leg, but Sergio Busquets was adjudged to have been fouled late on to earn the spot kick.
The decisive goal was especially cruel for Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who managed to parry Messi's initial effort only to see the Argentinian descend on the rebound.
The official Barcelona Twitter account confirmed the win, which gives Luis Enrique's men a welcome advantage as they prepare for a tough trip to the Vicente Calderon in seven days' time:
"FULL TIME: FC Barcelona 1 (Messi); Atlético Madrid 0 #FCBlive
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 21, 2015"
Fernando Torres was the only change from Diego Simeone's four-man attack that started in Catalan country the last time these two sides met, with Antoine Griezmann, Arda Turan and Koke all involved from the start.
After half-time, Spanish newspaper Sport emphasised the fact that Simeone's visitors seemed happy with a bore draw:
"Slow start to the second half. Atletico seem pretty happy to take 0-0 back home with them.
— SPORT English (@Sport_EN) January 21, 2015"
However, Los Rojiblancos mustered just one shot on target across the 90 minutes, per WhoScored.com, in a match that was more about them restraining the Barca tide than threatening themselves.
As Barcastuff states, by scoring against the Madrid giants, Messi has picked Atletico out as his most regular victims during his goal-laden career:
"With 22 goals, Atletico Madrid is now the team against which Messi has scored most goals ever #fcblive [via mrchip]
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) January 21, 2015"
Nevertheless, keeping the goal count down to just one means the fixture is far from outside Atleti's grasp at this point, and next week's hosts will hope for a significant turnaround on home soil.
Malaga 0-0 Athletic Bilbao
In Andalusia, Malaga were left somewhat disappointed not to have assumed a controlling share in their quarter-final matchup against Athletic Bilbao, ending 0-0 on the night.
It was a fairly drab affair between two La Liga sides currently struggling for form, with Inside La Liga supporting the low quality of the attacking displays on show:
It wasn't until the second half that fatigue started to settle in and all three yellow cards of the tie were awarded that excitement picked up.
However, try as the two clubs might, no victor could be found, with Athletic undoubtedly the happier side, bringing an end to their four-match losing streak.
Much of Athletic's (slight) success this season has come on the back of their home form and a stingy defence. But with Malaga sitting as the second-lowest-scoring outfit in La Liga's top half away from home this season, there may not be much hope of things picking up greatly in next Thursday's return leg.
Villarreal 1-0 Getafe
Villarreal will take a one-goal advantage to Madrid next week after edging Getafe 1-0 at El Madrigal on Wednesday evening, assuming the upper hand in their two-legged quarter-final tie.
The result ensures Marcelinho's men maintain their spotless record at home in the Copa del Rey, still yet to concede a goal after three fixtures in front of their own fans in this season's competition.
Spanish newspaper AS confirmed the final score, where an 85th-minute free-kick from captain Bruno Soriano made the difference in earning The Yellow Submarine their victory:
Getafe have built a habit of fielding bodies behind the ball in an attempt to force results, a tactic which worked effectively for much of the midweek matchup as Villarreal failed to convert numerous chances.
In the end, though, there wasn't much the visitors could do to prevent a piece of set-piece splendour such as Bruno's, with Marcelinho's men only hoping they can withstand the tide in next Thursday's reverse fixture.
