FC Barcelona beat Málaga CF 4-2 to set up a Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid CF while Club Atlético de Madrid earned a tie with Sevilla FC by quelling Real Betis Balompié.
FC Barcelona will meet Real Madrid CF in the Copa del Rey semi-finals after overcoming Málaga 4-2 to seal a 6-4 aggregate passage.
The match started in explosive fashion as Barcelona hit the front when Daniel Alves burst through and crossed for Pedro Rodríguez to nod in after nine minutes, but the hosts levelled three minutes later when Joaquín curled his finish inside José Manuel Pinto’s near post from a cutting pass from Duda.
Andrés Iniesta struck the bar before the break but his next contribution was more telling as his cross was chested down and fired in by Gerard Piqué (49). The home side refused to buckle, however, and Roque Santa Cruz completed a counterattack by driving in off the far post to make it 2-2 again. Málaga could not contain the effervescent Iniesta though, and the midfielder darted through to poke in the decisive effort 14 minutes from time with Lionel Messi’s header adding further gloss.
Club Atlético de Madrid will meet Sevilla FC in the other semi-final as they drew 1-1 at Real Betis Balompié to complete a 3-1 aggregate triumph. The visitors put the tie out of reach on the stroke of half-time when a mix-up between goalkeeper Casto and Antonio Amaya allowed Diego Costa to tap into an empty net. Diego Godín was penalised for a 90th-minute foul on Jorge Molina, who then stroked in his spot kick to restore parity on the night. The first leg of the last-four ties are next week with the returns towards the end of February.
