COPA DEL REY | BARÇA - VALENCIA
Barça-Valencia: a look back at the sides' recent Copa clashes
Going back to 1998, the clubs have met four times in the Copa del Rey – and on each occasion, the winner of the tie has then gone on to claim the trophy.
Valencia have been drawn with Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, with the first leg to be played on 3 February at the Camp Nou and the return at Mestalla a week later.
And in recent years against Barça in the Copa, enjoying home advantage in the second leg has worked out very nicely for Los Che: the past two times the sides have crossed paths in the tournament and Valencia have taken the tie back to their stadium, they have gone through.
2011-12: In Pep Guardiola’s last season as coach, Barcelona won through a last-four clash that paired them with a Valencia whose boss, Unai Emery, was also in his final term at the helm. After an opener at Mestalla that brought a 1-1 draw with first-half goals from Jonas Gonçalves and Carles Puyol, it was all to play for in the second leg at the Camp Nou, where Cesc Fábregas and Xavi Hernández ensured a 2-0 second-leg triumph for Barça. Through: Barcelona. Copa del Rey winners: Barcelona.
2007-08: Ronald Koeman’s Valencia side were struggling in La Liga, but some solace came in the shape of the season’s Copa. After being denied a semi-final first-leg win at the Camp Nou only by a last-minute Xavi equaliser for Barça, the return in Valencia saw goals from Rubén Baraja and Juan Mata (two) seal a 3-2 victory to snuff out the Azulgrana’s hopes of Copa glory, and Koeman’s men went on to lift the trophy by beating Getafe. Through: Valencia. Copa del Rey winners: Valencia.
1998-99: The pair met in the quarter-finals of the competition, with a Claudio López double and one from Gaizka Mendieta enabling Claudio Ranieri’s Valencia to run out 3-2 winners in the opening leg in Barcelona. And back at Mestalla it was a game to forget for both defences as Los Che won the leg 4-3, before defeating Atlético Madrid in the final. Through: Valencia. Copa del Rey winners: Valencia.
1997-98: A year earlier, on this occasion in the last 16, the tie delivered the opposite outcome. Louis van Gaal’s Barça team negotiated their match-up with Valencia with relative comfort, taking a 2-1 first-leg advantage to Mestalla, where they then won 3-1 on the night, before progessing to a final in which they claimed victory over Mallorca. Through: Barcelona. Copa del Rey winners: Barcelona.