Copa Del Rey 2013-14

Some great moves by Getafe there, what a backheel from Sarabía!
 
2-0, Fàbregas penalty. And Messi comes on for Iniesta just after that.
 
3-0, Messi.

Busquets as Xavi, Montoya as Alves and Messi as Messi for that goal.
 
4-0, Messi... not quite a replica of his previous goal v Getafe in the Copa, but decent nonetheless :D
 
Well he's back - is that enough to keep the Ballon d'Or run going? :p
 
Fàbregas' first was nice too, neat header. And Messi played two great passes to Tello and Pedro that really should've been converted as well.
 
The other news from Barca tonight was that Tito Vilanova was at the match. Hopefully that's a sign that things are looking better.
 
Well he's back - is that enough to keep the Ballon d'Or run going? :p

Well, it's been that kind of campaign hasn't it...another extension or recasting of the voting?

Cesc played very well. Truth is the whole team played well, save for Roberto who lacked sufficient quality on the evening. Tello has been screwed with minutes but he has to make the most of those minutes, regardless. Players need the confidence of their coaches & teammates but they have to take their chances too. Maybe in his head he is already gone.

Might be wrong but I think Roberto will be another Arteta, just not good enough for the first team of this quality. Getafe couldn't have played much better really. Ref was predictably poor a number of times but fortunately it didn't figure into the result.
 
1-0 Real Madrid. Benzema scores with his head. He needs one more goal to reach 100 goals for Real Madrid.​
 
No surprise to see Villa drop to the bench. He's been underwhelming for the majority of his time at Atleti so far, whereas Raul Garcia makes it hard to leave him out when he always seems to score when he starts.
 
No surprise to see Villa drop to the bench. He's been underwhelming for the majority of his time at Atleti so far, whereas Raul Garcia makes it hard to leave him out when he always seems to score when he starts.


I agree that Villa has been a bit underwhelming, but saying that he's still been fairly decent. There's a reason Simeone sticks with him (he's played in all 19 league games so far, starting all but one), even with Raúl García in the form of his life, Villa has the superior technique and vision and his presence also grants more space to Diego Costa IMO. And you are correct by the way, Raúl García has 6 goals in 6 starts (15 apps in total) in La Liga.
 
In the other cup tie this evening third tier Racing Santander just beat Almería 2-0 at their own ground... what a miserable week for them.

The teams.

Courtois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, Filipe; Gabi, Sosa, Arda, Tiago, Raúl García y; Diego Costa

Guaita; Barragán, Ricardo Costa, Mathieu, Bernat; Javi Fuego, Míchel, Feghouli, Dani Parejo, Fede; y Postiga
 
Courtois with some great saves, outstanding performance from him, same as in the 1st leg.
 
And Parejo gets his marching orders in injury time after losing his cool :lol:
 
That was stupid from Parejo but it's a stupid rule aswell.

Ref should give them some leeway, they just got knocked out of the competition.
 
That was stupid from Parejo but it's a stupid rule aswell.

Ref should give them some leeway, they just got knocked out of the competition.

Yeah, up there with yellows for taking your shirt off etc.

Gabi Fernández, been quietly going about his business since his final season at Zaragoza, but man he's been outstanding ever since. Such a hard worker, leading by example and a sweet set piece delivery to boot. Really embodies the Simeone ethic.
 
Maybe. He has yet to play with the NT and that's really no way to develop any sort of chemistry or rhythm ahead of a big tournament.
He can't be much worse than Torres or the other options we have. Alough Negredo is in some form lately aswell.
 
Athletic vs Betis fighting for the next round of la Copa...

1-0 Athletic up for now... (1-1 the global... extra time if no one scores)