Copa del Rey: Barcelona 2 Valencia 0

8 February 2012 23:26

Barcelona will contest the Copa del Rey final for the third time in four years after overcoming Valencia 2-0 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Barcelona will contest the Copa del Rey final for the third time in four years after overcoming Valencia 2-0 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

With the cushion of Carles Puyol's away goal from the 1-1 draw at the Mestalla, the Catalans were in imperious form as Cesc Fabregas' first-half strike and a Xavi thunderbolt were enough to help Barca to a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Barca struggled to settle in the early exchanges and Valencia were presented with a good chance to take the lead.

Jeremy Mathieu's curling delivery found Sofiane Feghouli's darting run but the Frenchman's rasping drive was off target.

Despite their confident start, however, Valencia found themselves behind in the 16th minute when Lionel Messi's lofted pass caught Diego Alves in two minds.

His indecisiveness allowed Fabregas to clip the bouncing ball past the 'keeper from an acute angle.

The Catalans should have doubled their lead when Messi intercepted Adil Rami's forward pass gave the Argentine a sight of goal, only for Diego Alves to parry his shot away.

Valencia started the second period strongly and created a superb opening when Jordi Alba was played clean on goal.

The Spaniard's touch took him away from the hounding Puyol and with his second he lashed the ball toward goal only to be denied by the legs of Jose Pinto.

But Valencia's task progressed from improbable to impossible when Feghouli was shown his second yellow card leaving the visitors a man down and needing a goal in the remaining 13 minutes to keep their hopes alive.

And soon after Aritz Aduriz had wasted a chance to level, Xavi destroyed any glimmer of hope with an emphatic finish following a swift Barca break.

Pep Guardiola's side now have the chance to clinch their 26th Copa del Rey victory when they face Athletic Bilbao in the final in May.