Barca draw 1-1 to qualify for Cup final

FC Barcelona and Valencia drew the return leg of their King's Cup semi-final 1-1 on Wednesday night to give Barca an 8-1 aggregate win to take them into the King's Cup final.

Following last week's 7-0 win, Barca coach Luis Enrique decided to rest nearly all of his first team regulars.

There were no Leo Messi, Luis Suaez or Neymar, while Gerard Pique, Dani Alves and Jordi Alba were also rested, with players such as Aleix Vidal, Adriano, Thomas Vermaelen and B-team player Jordi Samper all in the starting 11.

Valencia also rested key players ahead of their decisive game at home to Espanyol, although players such as Santi Mina and Pablo Piatti and Alvaro Negredo were all in the side.

The conclusive result in the first leg and the current difficult climate in a club saw the game played in a virtually empty Mestalla Stadium.

Negredo has been out of touch in recent games, but he found the target in the 39th minute of the game to put his side ahead in a slightly unconvincing manner.

Set through on the Barca goal, his shot hit goalkeeper Ter Stegen, but the rebound hit his body and allowed him to score with a simple finish.

The second half saw B-teamers Juan Camara and Wilfred Kaptoum come into the game as late substitutes and the pair combined with just five minutes remaining as Camara sent a low cross into the Valencia area for Kaptoum to score his first for the club and deny Valencia what would have been a morale boosting win.

Thursday sees Sevilla defend a 4-0 first leg lead they took on the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium a week ago in the second semi-final away to Celta Vigo. Endit