Just as eventual champions Inter knocked Barca out of the Champions League, Spanish Cup winners Seville beat Barca in the last 32 of the competition.
Over a pulsating 180 minutes, Seville knocked the reigning champs out on the away goals rule. Barca
had reached the last 32 after beating Third Division outfit Cultural Leonesa
0-2
and
5-0
.
Narrow defeat at the Nou Camp
Barca sent out a less than full strength team for the first leg on January 5th and Seville
took advantage to take a
1-2
lead back for the return game. Barca needed a comeback and Guardiola called up all the
big guns for the game, but despite a fantastic second half showing, Seville keeper Palop kept the
scoring down to a solitary Xavi goal (
0-1
) and the Champs were out!
Seville went on to reach the final at the Nou Camp on May 19th when they beat Atletico Madrid
to take the title.