Valencia vs. Barcelona: Winners and Losers from Copa Del Rey
Barcelona advanced to the Copa del Rey final following a 1-1 draw at Valencia on Wednesday night in the second leg of the two teams' semi-final.
After Barca won the first leg 7-0, both teams fielded weakened sides with plenty of young players hoping to make an impression. One who helped his chances was Wilfrid Kaptoum, who fired in the equalizer for Barcelona in the 84th minute to cancel out Alvaro Negredo's first-half opener.
In the final, Barcelona will play either Sevilla or Celta Vigo.
Here, Bleacher Report selects winners and losers from the match.
Loser: Gary Neville
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Until about the 84th minute, things were looking up for head coach Gary Neville. Sure, his Valencia were only beating a reduced-strength opponent, but it was still going to be a victory over Barcelona.
After going nine games without a win in La Liga, the English manager is desperate for something—anything—to lift the mood around the Mestalla, and beating their illustrious Catalonian opponents (sans Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, of course) would have been a great place to start.
But then Kaptoum struck six minutes from time to give Barca a draw. With that, manager Luis Enrique's men heaped even more misery on Neville.
"Poor old Gary Neville," tweeted Rik Sharma. "Kaptoum saves Luis Enrique's unbeaten run—which he didn't care about—and stops Neville getting a 'symbolic' win."
Will this result spell the end for Neville? It's tough to say, but one has to think Valencia's directors would have made a move after the 7-0 defeat in the first leg, rather than waiting any longer.
But after another disappointing result, Neville is looking less and less like the solution for Valencia, who currently sit just four points above the relegation places in La Liga.
Winner: Luis Enrique
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For some, current Barcelona boss Enrique will never live up to former manager Pep Guardiola. And it's no big secret as to why: Under Guardiola's guidance from 2008-12, Barca played some of the best, most attractive football in recent memory, winning trophies by the truckload.
But Enrique doesn't seem to mind. And why would he? Last season, Lucho led the Blaugrana to a treble of trophies, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. After avoiding defeat against Valencia on Wednesday, he now has another feather for his cap.
Barcelona's current unbeaten run stands at 29 games in all competitions, a club record. The old record was set in 2010-11 by Guardiola's team, which went 28 matches without defeat.
In the bigger picture, Enrique's Barca remain on course for glory in the same three competitions and could take home another treble this season.
Loser: Marc Bartra
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Marc Bartra was in the news earlier this week when Mundo Deportivo (h/t Football Espana) reported that the defender is "giving serious consideration" to his future at Barcelona. Bartra, 25, reportedly wants more playing time and thus might only see that happening away from Camp Nou.
Wednesday's match, therefore, represented a chance for Bartra to catch manager Enrique's eye with a solid performance. But if that was his goal, he did not succeed. As Goal.com noted in its player ratings:
"[Bartra] should have used this as an opportunity to try and impress Luis Enrique but showed very little desire to get forward from right-back, which left [Aleix] Vidal fairly isolated ahead of him."
Bartra simply must do better if he wants more consistent minutes in Barcelona's talent-rich squad.
Winners: Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez
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None of Barcelona's superstar attacking trio were involved Wednesday night. In fact, Messi, Neymar and Suarez all stayed behind as Barca traveled to Valencia.
So why are they winners here? Easy. That's one extra day of rest for all three of them while their younger, less experienced team-mates got the job done in a low-pressure situation.
And that's no small thing for Barcelona. Starting on Sunday, the Catalans will play three times in seven days, facing Celta Vigo (home), Sporting Gijon (away) and Las Palmas (away) in quick succession. Barca will then travel to England to face Arsenal on Feb. 23 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie.
The fixtures are piling up, in other words, but Enrique was still able to rest his talented attacking trio on this night.
Winner: Wilfrid Kaptoum
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Kaptoum, a 19-year-old Cameroonian midfielder, made his third senior appearance for Barcelona on Wednesday night and scored his first senior goal.
In the 84th minute, with Barcelona trailing 1-0, Douglas played a nice pass to Camara on the left, and Camara squared for Kaptoum, who had made a late run into the middle of the box. Kaptoum side-footed in confidently to level the score and keep Barca's unbeaten run going.
On first glance, the strike appeared to be nothing more than a simple tap-in, but it was deceptively tricky. In order to convert the chance, Kaptoum had to open his hips and send the ball to the far post past Jaume Domenech.
Such calmness in front of goal will surely serve the teenager well as he continues his quest to make an impression on the first team.
