The Spanish Cup was played this year in Santiago de Compostela, as part of the Xacobeo celebrations. Barça beat Cartagena in the first round, but failed against ElPozo.
FC Barcelona ended the first half of the season fourth, which meant they played the fgifth placed
team in the quarter finals of the Spanish Cup, Reale Cartagena. It was the tight match everyone had
expected.
Comeback to go into semis
It started badly for Barça, as Cartagena were already 0-2 ahead after
six minutes, but Ari Santos pulled one back before the break and then Saad and Fernandao made it
3-2 after the restart. Even goalkeeper Cristian added to the comeback when he spotted his
counterpart on the opposite team way off his line. Ari Santos, then made it 5-2, and it looked like
game over, but there was some tension yet to come.
Luís
Fonseca suddenly produced two goals from nowhere. Cobeta latched onto a loose ball in the area and
then Chico turned a clearance into his own net. It was 5-4 with a minute to go, but Barça defended
well and were into the final four.
History repeating
In the second round Barça has a tougher rival in ElPozo Múrcia. Like last season,
Duda’s side got the better of Marc Carmona’s, though nobody would have predicted it
would be by 7-1.
Another poor start saw Barça go 0-2 before the game had even picked up
any pace. It is never easy to pull two goals back against ElPozo, but Fernandao got one with the
first first FCB attack after 16 minutes. Barça seemed to improve in the second half, and would have
scored had it not been for the brilliance of goalkeeper Juanjo. But the better Barça got, the more
effective were ElPozo. Saul made it 1-3, and then Barça squandered a double penalty and then
decided to throw caution to the wind with a rush goalie. The gamble didn’t pay off.
Goalkeeper Juanjo, and outcourt players Barroso, Wilde and Esquerdinha made it 1-7, a scoreline
that did nothing to reflect the run of play. For the second consecutive year, Barcelona had gone
out of the cup to Pozo.
Teams | ||
---|---|---|
Position | Teams | Pts |
1 | ElPozo Murcia | 79 |
2 | FC Barcelona Alusport | 74 |
3 | Inter Movistar | 64 |
4 | Caja Segovia | 49 |
5 | Autos Lobelle de Santiago | 47 |
6 | Triman Navarra | 45 |
7 | Carnicer Torrejón | 45 |
8 | Umacon Zaragoza | 43 |
9 | Puertollano | 39 |
10 | Fisiomedia Manacor | 37 |
11 | OID Talavera | 36 |
12 | Ríos Renovables Ribera Navarra | 33 |
13 | Azkar Lugo F.S | 29 |
14 | Marfil Santa Coloma | 28 |
15 | Reale Cartagena | 24 |
16 | Benicarló FS | 0 |