Barcelona, Celta Vigo seal Copa del Rey semifinal berths
Inaki Williams' early goal made Barcelona work harder than they would have liked, but second half goals from Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique and Neymar ensured that the Catalans would be in the Copa del Rey semifinals after a 3-1 (5-2 aggregate) victory over Athletic Bilbao.
As Barcelona extended its 25-match unbeaten run, manager Luis Enrique admitted to having some concerns about the wear and tear on his team. He had Suarez back after a two-match Copa ban and Neymar returned after injury so he had his usual attacking trident available from the start, but he rested some defenders and will not have liked the fact that it took so long to make matters safe.
There were starts from Thomas Vermaelen and Jeremy Mathieu at the back and midfield general Andres Iniesta and defender Aleix Vidal got the night off.
It was an often labored Barcelona performance against a team they had defeated twice in a week and lead by 17 points in the La Liga race. They never got the control that would have made for an easy night and were teetering on the edge of possible, unwanted extra time for far too long to be comfortable.
Three minutes after Thomas Vermaelen had a goal correctly disallowed from a corner, Athletic grabbed an unexpected lead. Williams ran down a fine pass from Aritz Aduriz that split the Barcelona defense in the 12th minute. Williams raced between Mathieu and Pique, collected, carried to the left to increase his angle and beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen to the opposite far post.
Barcelona finally got even eight minutes into the second half with one of their patented high-speed attacks. Sergi Roberto chipped down the left wing, Messi ran onto and delivered the cross to the far post where Rakitic had the first chance before the Uruguayan finished the job.
The breathing room finally came with nine minutes left when Pique headed a Dani Alves pass into the center top net just a minute after he had been denied a headed goal off a corner by keeper Iago Herrein's fine diving save.
Neymar's stoppage time goal, a blast into the top corner from the center of box 16 yards out, made the final scoreline look much more convincing than the performance.
Earlier on Wednesday, Pablo Hernandez headed two goals and John Guidetti scored on a long-range laser as Celta Vigo went to the Vicente Calderon and knocked favored Atletico Madrid out of the Copa del Rey.
After a scoreless draw in their home first leg, the visitors never trailed in the return match of their 3-2 quarterfinal triumph and earned a spot in the semifinal draw with a fearless performance.
Antoine Griezmann did give Atletico a first half lifeline when he tied the match at 1-1 and substitute Angel Correa scored with 10 minutes to play, but this was an Atletico side too often lacking in attacking rhythm once again. Perhaps they were too aware that they must face Barcelona in a top of the table La Liga showdown Saturday at the Camp Nou, but boss Diego Simeone played a full-strength side as he chased a spot in the semifinals.
Although Atletico has remained at the top of La Liga race their recent form has not been particularly sharp, their attack showing signs of fatigue under the pressure of playing two games per week. They could do no better than 0-0 draws in their last two matches, including the first leg of this Copa del Rey tie and struggled to find pace on Wednesday.
Celta, on the other hand, seemed to revel on the big stage as they continued an excellent season. Fifth in the league race and on course for a spot in Europe next year, they never were afraid to probe and challenge their hosts.
The teams traded goals midway through the opening half, the 1-1 scoreline leaving Celta with the advantage of their away goal as the teams went to the interval.
Although Atletico had much the better of the early play and did most of the attacking, the visitors took full advantage of their rare opportunity in the 21st minute when a short corner found Fabian Orellana with room to advance, then cross from the top left. His delivery was met by the Chilean Pablo Hernandez, who placed his 7-yard header well wide of Miguel Angel Moya in the Atletico goal.
Knowing they now needed at least two goals to advance, Simeone's team turned things up and six minutes later they were level. It was a hard shot from the top from Yannick Ferreira Carrasco that beat goalkeeper Ruben Blanco, who could only dive to his left and push the ball directly into the path of Griezmann. The French striker buried the rebound for his ninth goal of the campaign.
Celta was forced into a goalkeeper change at the start of the second half, Sergio Alvarez taking over for Ruben Blanco, who had taken a blow to the ribs when Luciano Vietto crashed into him in pursuit of a possible rebound of a Griezmann drive in the 14th minute. Vietto was cautioned by referee Mateu Lehoz for the tackle and Blanco continued on after receiving treatment but he failed to appear after the break.
Celta eased the pressure Alvarez by scoring twice in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
Celta believed they had gone ahead three minutes before they actually regained the lead, Guidetti first seeming to set up Pablo Hernandez only to have the assistant rule that the ball had crossed the byeline before the pass. Replays made the call look questionable but there was no doubt when the big Swedish striker let fly from 30 yards and beat Moya comprehensively to the top right corner in the 56th minute.
Celta then put the match beyond reach when the Chilean scored his second header in the 64th minute, this time meeting the Hugo Mallo cross on the right side of the box and having time and space to nod it to the far corner.
Set to score at least three to advance, Atletico managed just Correa's, a goal which came off a weaving run past defenders into the center of the box before the substitute found the low right corner past Alvarez.
