Villarreal vs. Barcelona: Score, Grades, Reaction from 2014/15 Copa del Rey
Neymar and Luis Suarez scored as Barcelona reached the Copa del Rey final following a 3-1 victory at Villarreal on Wednesday night in the second leg of their semi-final at the Estadio El Madrigal.
Barcelona won the first leg, 3-1, three weeks ago at the Camp Nou, meaning Luis Enrique's side held a clear advantage heading into the return match. The Blaugrana were never truly in danger of relinquishing their lead, and after Neymar opened the scoring in the third minute, only one outcome was likely.
Villarreal managed to equalise through Jonathan Dos Santos in the 39th minute, but after the home side had Tomas Pina sent off midway through the second half, Barcelona retook the lead through Suarez 17 minutes from full-time. Neymar then added his second—Barca's third—in the 88th minute to seal a 6-2 aggregate victory.
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It wasn't all good news on the night for Barcelona, however, after midfielder Sergio Busquets left the match in the first half following a crunching challenge with Pina.
But regardless of the injury, Barca are now within sight of the first silverware of the season. With Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid already eliminated, Enrique's team will be firm favourites to win the cup against either Espanyol or Athletic Bilbao—who face off in the other semi-final later Wednesday night—in the final.
Meanwhile, Barcelona also remain in the hunt for glory in both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. Currently second in the league, just two points behind Real Madrid, Barca hold a 2-1 advantage over Manchester City after the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.
If results continue to go Barcelona's way, Enrique and Co. could be in store for a memorable finish to the season. But the campaign is far from over, and the Blaugrana can only look forward to their next match, at home to Rayo Vallecano in the league on Sunday.
Up next for Villarreal is a home match against Celta Vigo in the league on Sunday.
Needing to score two goals to win the tie, Villarreal began the match at a high pace, pressuring Barcelona when the guests held possession and looking for chances to counter at pace. One such opportunity arose in the second minute, when Denis Cheryshev headed wide of the target following a cross from Jaume Costa.
The miss proved costly just one minute later as Barcelona took the lead with their first attack. Javier Mascherano started what turned out to be a brilliant move, picking out Suarez on the left flank with a long pass from Barca's half. Suarez raced down the flank and hit a driven pass to Lionel Messi across the length of the box.
With time to pick his spot, Messi curled the ball back across the pitch to the back post, where Neymar clipped a first-time shot past Sergio Asenjo for a 1-0 Barcelona lead.
With that, Villarreal faced an even steeper task, needing three goals just to force injury time. But the hosts came close on multiple occasions throughout the first half, starting at seven minutes as Cheryshev blasted over from close range after Luciano Vietto nodded down a corner at the near post.
Vietto had his turn five minutes later, but his free header sailed too close to Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who held comfortably. Ikechukwu Uche shot into the side netting in the 17th minute, and Ter Stegen palmed away another Cheryshev shot three minutes later.
At the other end, Barcelona came close again in the 26th minute as Andres Iniesta showed great skill to haul in a Messi cross in the box. But the veteran midfielder shot off target from a tight angle.
Neymar had the next chance in the 38th minute after racing onto an incisive Suarez pass as Barcelona hit Villarreal with a counter. The Brazilian cut inside onto his right foot, but Mario made a timely block to keep the hosts within one goal.
One minute later, Villarreal pulled level.
Moving down the pitch at pace, the hosts spread the ball wide left to Costa, who crossed to the back post. The ball flew over Uche, but Dos Santos was on hand to sweep in with his first touch to make the score 1-1.
Barcelona received more bad news moments later as Busquets left the pitch on a stretcher. Replays showed the midfielder had sustained a serious-looking injury in a challenge with Pina during the buildup to the goal.
The chances continued to come regularly as the second half began. In the 47th minute, Vietto directed a header off target following a Cheryshev cross. Five minutes later, Ter Stegen saved as Dos Santos tried his luck from distance with a free-kick.
In the 55th minute, Asenjo saved a Messi curler as the Argentine tried to restore Barcelona's advantage. Four minutes later, Cheryshev shot straight at Ter Stegen from a tight angle with Barca's defenders appealing for offside.
Villarreal went down to 10 men in the 65th minute when Pina saw red for a reckless challenge on Neymar. The dismissal meant the home side would have to score two goals over the next 25 minutes while playing a man down.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Villarreal continued to press Barcelona whenever the visiting side took possession. But in the 69th minute, Suarez had a great chance to score after latching on to Iniesta's clever through pass. The Uruguayan seemed destined to score, but his shot flew wide of the target.
The visitors came close again in the 72nd minute when Neymar broke free behind the defence and raced in on goal. But Neymar shot too close to Asenjo, who saved.
Another goal felt inevitable, and Suarez obliged one minute later. Mascherano set up the chance with a fine pass over the top to Suarez, who bore down on goal while holding off his marker. After reaching the box, the Uruguayan took a touch around Asenjo before tapping in for a 2-1 Barcelona lead.
Combined with the earlier dismissal, the goal effectively killed off Villarreal's resistance. For good measure, Barcelona added a third strike in the 88th minute.
Having entered as a substitute in the second half, Xavi curled an inch-perfect cross to the back post for Neymar, who headed in past Asenjo to finish off a 3-1 Barcelona win.
Grades
| Sergio Asenjo | 5.3 |
| Mario | 7.3 |
| Mateo Musacchio | 6.7 |
| Victor Ruiz | 6.3 |
| Jaume Costa | 7.1 |
| Jonathan Dos Santos | 7.2 |
| Tomas Pina | 5.2 |
| Manu Trigueros | 6.5 |
| Denis Cheryshev | 6.5 |
| Ikechukwu Uche | 6.3 |
| Luciano Vietto | 6.4 |
| Giovani Dos Santos (for Uche, 62') | 5.7 |
| Joel Campbell (for Cheryshev, 69') | 6.0 |
| Moi Gomez (for Trigueros, 75') | 6.1 |
| Marc-Andre Ter Stegen | 7.3 |
| Martin Montoya | 7.0 |
| Gerard Pique | 6.9 |
| Javier Mascherano | 7.2 |
| Jordi Alba | 7.5 |
| Rafinha | 6.4 |
| Sergio Busquets | 6.3 |
| Andres Iniesta | 7.4 |
| Lionel Messi | 9.2 |
| Luis Suarez | 7.6 |
| Neymar | 8.7 |
| Jeremy Mathieu (for Busquets, 42') | 6.6 |
| Xavi (for Rafinha, 65') | 7.0 |
| Ivan Rakitic (for Mascherano, 76') | 6.3 |
Reaction
Barcelona forward Neymar, via Football Espana:
"I’m very happy to be back in the final, so I must congratulate the team. Villarreal are a great team, who have many top players, and we knew it’d be a very difficult game.
However, we started very well and scored a very quick goal, which really helped our cause. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’d like to play (the final) at Camp Nou.
"
Villarreal goalscorer Jonathan Dos Santos, via Football Espana:
"Barcelona played very well and made the game very difficult. A third-minute goal gave Barcelona (the tie). Since then, they pressed well and took control. Nonetheless, Barca can kill you from any pass or opening, and that’s what happened.
We left (the pitch) sad for the fans, who deserved a final, but we can still give them some joy in the Europa League. It was very difficult to score, but we tried until the end and must be happy with our performance.
"
Follow @MiguelCominguez
