Copa del Rey: Barca Eliminates Real Madrid

Copa del Rey: Barca Eliminates Real Madrid
Jojo Doria

Barcelona, Spain

Pedro and Dani Alves each struck a goal each before the end of the first half and it proved just enough as Barcelona moved on to the semifinal round of the Copa del Rey with a 4-3 aggregate win against arch rival Real Madrid at Camp Nou.

Barca punched its way to the semifinal round of the Copa del Rey after surviving a furious second-half run from Real Madrid on their home turf.

Coming off a 2-1 win over their archrival in the first leg of their quarterfinal showdown, Barcelona was off and running in the match as the pumped-up crowd fed them energy throughout the match.

Barcelona had several scoring attempts in the first but Pedro's goal in the 43rd minute opened things up for the home team.

Two minutes later, Alves doubled Barca's lead by launching a long range shot past Real Madrid Iker Casillas just before the end of the first half.

With their back against the wall, Real Madrid responded with second-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo (68') and Karim Benzema (72').

Real Madrid even threatened to take the lead but the home team showed composure on defensive end down the stretch to book a 4-3 aggregate victory over last season's Copa del Rey titlists.

Barcelona will wait for the winner of the other quarterfinal match between Valencia and Levante. Valencia won the first leg of their quarterfinal duel by the score of 4-1. The second leg is scheduled on January 26 in Valencia.