Alaves 1-0 Celta Vigo live online: Match report, as it happened

Update content

Alaves 1-0 Celta Vigo: full time

In a game that took a while to get going, Alaves grabbed the bull by the horns and decided it would them who would decide the tie. After the first tie was as good as rained off, and ended in a stalemate, there was every chance the second leg was headed the same way. That was until Mauricio Pellegrini gave his players very clear instructions to go for the jugular in the second half. They did that and slowly but surely started to carve out chances and reduced Celta Vigo's attack to a few sparse half-chances that was never going to be enough.

Edgar Mendez was only on the field a few minutes when he got on the end of Deyverson's header and kept a cool head to finish beyond Sergio, who was proving particularly tricky to beat. Celta came to life for the last ten minutes but it was desparation at that point and despite have three striker on the field in Aspas, Guidetti and Rossi, they could not even fashion a decent chance as the clock ticked fown on their Copa dream. Alaves will play Barcelona in the final in a stadium that is, as yet, to be decided.

GAME OVER! Alaves make it to their first ever Copa del Rey final.

Min 90+6 | What a chance. Camarasa has an open goal and Sergio running back hopelessly. He makes it back before Camarasa shoots and ends up saving the shot. Absolutely feeble from Camarasa and Celta have another chance.

Min 90+5 | Corner and Sergio makes his way up the field.

Min 90+4 | Celta Vigo still searching for a chance but nothing giving yet. Alaves sitting back and defending well while also not allowing Celta time to just launch the ball into the box.

Min 90+2 | Edgar Mendez down with what looks like a torn hamstring.

6 minutes of additional time to be played! Cleta have one good chance in them and plenty of strikers on the field.

Min 88 | Nope! Radoja chances a long ranger but it goes well over the bar. Pacheco down now with a groin issues, it looks like.

Alaves substitution - Ibai Gomez comes off for Vigaray.

Celta Vigo double substitution - John Guidetti on for Marcelo Diaz and Daniel Wass is replaced by Guiseppe Rossi.

Min 84 | After beating Real Madrid, Celta have really rested on their laurels here. There has bene little or no intent from them from the start and only now come to life, with five minutes remaining.

GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! It was coming, it has to be said. Alaves break the deadlock as Deyverson headers down to substitute Edgar Mendez and he finished beyong Sergio. Advantage Alaves.

Min 80 | Sergio collects a ball in the air and Manu Garcia, quite clumsily, back into him when he should have retreated. Celta players not happy but the main man, Antonio Mateu, calms matter. Mateu always in control.

Alaves substitution - Toquero, who has put in a shift tonight, is replaced by Edgar Mendez.

Min 76 | Wass with a header from point blank range, but he can't help but hit Pacheco in the chest with it. 

75 minute update - Alaves went in for the kill but could not make it count. They had a long period of dominance and Celta Vigo were seem stunned and on the ropes. Celta have made a move with sisto coming on, which should help them to hold possession and offer more on the counter. Looks like this one is headed for extra-time!

Min 75 | Aspas penalised as he pulls back Feddal's arm. Alaves want another yellow, maybe, Aspas and Celta don't. The referee keeps his cards in his pockets this time.

Celta Vigo substitution - Theo Bongonda is replaced by Pione Sisto. The former is not happy as he launched his gloves into the dugout before taking his seat.

Min 71 | Sergio gets flattened from a corner and wins a free out. Celta slowing it all the way down now.

Min 69 | What a ball by Feddal, as he puts Theo Hernandez through over the top on the left. He rifles a cross towards the penalty area but Sergio gathers again. 

Min 66 | Alaves becoming more and more dominant and Celta really gasping for air. Deyverson the latest to be put through but he fires over the bar. Alaves, again, win the kick-out. Not giving the visitors a look of the ball.

Min 64 | Alaves getting closer by the second. Deyverseon cuts it back to Gomez, who really tests Sergio with a strike from just outside the box. Excellent effort.

60 minute update - For two teams who, essentially, had a weekend off, the energy in this has been relatively low. It has picked up significantly since the start of the second half, however, with Alaves really piling the pressure on the visitors. More recently, Celta have picked up the attacking mantle and are throwing themselves at Alves. Game very much on now! 

Min 60 | Wass with another golden chance for Celta. Aspas drives it low and towards the back post. A decent touch and that was in but Ibai Gomez was there to distract him and put him under enough pressure to cause him to miss.

Min 58 | Deyverson has a chance but it hits the gorund first, takes a deflection and rockets over the bar. Corner. 

Min 56 | Zou Feddal gets a shot away from a long free. He was adjudged to have hand-balled it in the build-up though. The shot wasn't bad though, even if it wouldn't have counted. 

Min 55 | Alaves consire to make a dog's dinner of a decent chance. They dispossess Celta, leaving them short-handed at the back, but Camarasa turns inside, plays it to Toquero and the chance is gone as his shot is blocked. Far too slow.

Min 54 | A high diagonal ball to Jonny from Wass and from right to left causes some doubts for Pacheco. He finally realises he will make it to the ball before the left-back and comes out to smother it.

Min 52 | Marcelo Diaz booked for a high tackle on Toquero but he waves it away as nothing. Replays suggest he is right and Toquero's quick recovery confirm it.

Min 49 | Another lovely move by Alaves. Femenia with the nutmeg, Toquero plays it to Garcia and it nearly reaches Gomez but it cleared for a corner. Alaves fans in good voice now and Gomez encourages them to pick it up!

Min 47 | Llorente tries his luck but he is too far out and he doesn't even give Sergio the smallest of frights.

A shade of 19,000 is the attendance tonight in Alaves

Min 46 | A PEEP! of the whistle and we are underway for the second 45.

Alaves 0-0 Celta Vigo: first half summary

Neither side really being given the chance to express themselves so far and it looks like both Pellegrino and Berizzo are playing a cautious game, knowing that the game is balanced on a knife edge. Aspas has provided the occasional spark for the visitors while Alaves' attack endeavours have been more of a communal effor tinvolving the very good Toquero and lively Ibai Gomez amongst others. We could easily be in for extra-time here but the further this game goes on, the more Celta's weekend off will start to show.

Alaves 0-0 Celta Vigo: first half

Min 43 | Toquero has been studying those Messi highlight reel videos with the dodgy dance music on them because he just turned two defenders into dust before unleashing Ibai Gomez down the left. He loses possession but Toquero is having a blinder - as they say.

Min 42 | Toquero draws in two Celta defenders before backheeling into acres of space and Camaresa, who launches a cross into the penalty area. Feddal ends up on the ground and Mateu sprints over to assess the carnage but keeps his whistle out of his mouth. Nothing doing.

Min 39 | Aspas and Feddal booked for something that happened off the ball. Aspas loves a bit of argy-bargy with opposing defenders. Feddal more than happy to engage!

Min 37 | Camarasa catches Ibai Gomez with a wayward elbow. Free to Alaves as they look to make one of these long frees count. They came close last time. It results in a counter-attack by Celta and Theo Bongonda overestimating his speed as he kicks it 15 yards ahead of him and is closed down.

Min 35 | Aspas pulled back quite cynically by Toquero. The former Liveprool man had a look up and saw a sea of Alaves jerseys and stops in his tracks. He would have scored, you know, if Toquero didn't pull him back!

Min 34 | Wass wins the ball back high up the field and starts an attack but Alaves get back and force the ball out over the sideline. Wass working very hard but not been getting the rub of the green so far down that right hand side.

30 minute update - Not sure if it is because the game has opened up or both sides are starting to figure each other out but there have been a couple of more chances and openings in the last fifteen including an effort from Aspas and a nice move by Alaves. Still a deadlock after 120 minutes of this tie though!

Min 28 | Ibai Gomez with another effort. He has an excuse for it going over the bar this time though; it clipped a Celta defender before it went out. Corner that Laguardia meets but his head was pointing in the wrong direction and it goes well wide.

Min 26 | A cheeky lob by Aspas as he clips it with the inside of his left boot. Nearly caught Pacheco out too but it lands on the top of the net. Aspas looks for a corner but his protests fall on deaf ears. Worth a try? Maybe not.

Min 25 | Decent move by Alaves. Toquero heads into the path of Kiko Femenia, who passes inside to Ibai Gomez but his shot is too high. Took an unfavourable bounce too as he wound up to strike it.

Min 22 | The referee and Eduardo Berizzo having a catch-up on the sideline. Antonio Mateu must not have liked something the Celta coach said but it comes to an amicable end with a pat on the back as Berizzo goes back to his technical area.

Min 20 | Ibai Gomez with a free-kick in a perfect spot outside the box. The angle was right, the distance was right but his right foot was wrong. He curls it just over the bar, and it looked like it clipped the woodwork on the way over.

Min 18 | Mauricio Pellegrino up on his feet giving out instructions to his players. Either that or he has been taking interpretive dance classes and was practising his new moves.

Min 16 | More pressue form Celta and Mallo has the turnover this time. He tries a stepover to buy himself a yard but his cross is blocked by Theo Hernandez and out for a throw.

15 minute update - Two teams not entirely used to competing in semi-finals and it is obviously a nervy affair. Nothing much to report other than that chance for Aspas. Celta Vigo have grown into this game but neither team stamping their authority on this one just yet.

Min 13 | It's Alaves who are sturggling to break out of their own half now as Bongonda and co. apply the pressure. Celta looking more comfortable and confident as they have settled into this one.

Min 11 | Aspas with a golden chance. He carved it out himself from a low cross by Mallo. His left footed curler turned away by Pacheco. Corner for Celta that results in a restart from Alaves but that was more promising by the visitors.

Min 9 | Aspas plays the ball to Wass, but his cross is blocked and Alaves break again with Toquero being the outlet. His cross towards Deyverson is snatched by Sergio before it reaches the Brazilian.

Min 8 | Celta's turn to throw it around outside Alaves' penalty area. The hosts push out slightly, suffocate Celta and win the ball back before launching a counter that comes to nothing. Celta not being allowed to settle here at all.

Min 6 | Camarasa dispossessed cheaply in the middle and Deyverson drives a low, and ultimately wide, shot towards Celta Vigo's goal.

Min 6 | Patience will only get you so far though and Femenia makes a dart into the box, crosses to Toquero, but the big man can't make contact with it. It was a lovely speed and height. 

Min 5 | Alaves holding the ball well and playing with plenty of patience. 

Min 3 | Manu Garcia starting this game as he finished the last, getting stuck in around the middle. He is penalised for a foul on Pablo Hernandez.

Min 2 | Toquero involved early on and has three touches. First one made its way to theo Hernandez but the last two have been to Celta Vigo players.

Min 1 | We are underway as the Alaves fans sing us all the way into the game.

Alaves vs Celta Vigo: team news

Alaves: Pacheco, Femenia, Laguardia, Feddal, Theo Hernandez, Llorente, Camarasa, Garcia, Ibai Gomez, Toquero, Deyverson.

Celta Vigo: Sergio, Hugo Mallo, Cabral, Roncaglia, Jonny, Marcelo Diaz, Radoja, Pablo Gernandez, Wass, Bongonda, Aspas.

Alaves vs Celta Vigo: latest news

20:56 | The white lights in the tunnel of the Mendizorroza make it look like the players are in a nightclub, or the toilet of a really dodgy restaurant. 

20:50 | We are very close to kick-off now and while it is raining, it is not half as a bad as last week. Hopefully it makes the ground slick enough to see some fast football, but not too slick that we see 22 Bambis on ice.

20:48 | If all else fails for Celta Vigo tonight, they have big John Guidetti on the bench! I have a feeling there are going to be plenty of goals tonight. You can blame me when it is 1-0 and forgettable.

20:37 | Nemanja Radoja has just one goal for Celta Vigo this season. That goal came against Alaves in a 1-0 victory in the middle of January.

20:25 | Barcelona have lost twice in the league this season, those losses came against Alaves and Celta Vigo. Whoever Barcelona play in the final will be buoyed by that victory and will be confident they can keep pace with the Catalans in a neutral stadium (even though Alaves beat them at the Camp Nou).

19:44 | We have the team news! Not a single change from either side ahead of tonight's clash. Both managers liked what they saw last week in the first leg, or else didn't really get to see enough of their gameplan implemented to make a call.

Alaves have changed their team entirely from the side that beat Sporting Gijon at the weekend with as many as nine changes to that side. Celta Vigo, of course, got the weekend off.

19:38 | Following the controversy surrounding Balaidos, Real Madrid and the postponed LaLiga game at the weekend, Eduardo Berizzo said, "What happened at Balaidos made me think that, in the game we played there three days earlier against Alaves, something could have happened that we wouldn't have wanted.

If you cast your memory back to that game, the weather was horrendous and the football suffered. The temperautre tonight should be around four degrees with an 83% chance of rain. I highly doubt it will be as bad as what we saw last weekend though!

18:25 | While Tuesday night's semi-final brought together two teams with 38 Copa del Rey wins between them, Celta and Alaves have a grand total of zero...

17:05 | Just under four hours to kick-off at Mendizorroza - here's our jolly useful guide on how and where to watch the Copa del Rey's second semi-final second leg.

15:30 | Visitors Celta are bidding to reach their first Copa final since 2001, while Alaves are out to make it to their first ever trophy decider in the domestic cup.

14:20 | Alaves have knocked out Celta on the five previous occasions they have met in the Copa and held the Galician side to a 0-0 draw in Balaídos in the opening leg. 

13:20 | Alaves' Theo Hernandez is a man to watch tonight - he's been a revelation on loan from Atletico Madrid, and his parent club are suitably impressed with him.

12:30 | Celta's coach Eduardo Berizzo was awarded with the LaLiga Coach of the Month award for January. 

11:15 | Tonight's semi-final is so delicately poised even the bookmakers are struggling to nominate a clear favourite

10:15 | In the Basque capital Vitoria today? Why not head to Mendizorroza for the unbeatable live match experience. A small quantity of tickets still remain on-sale.

09:50 | So who will face FC Barcelona in May's final? Here's how the Catalan side qualified for their fourth successive final.  

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Alaves v Celta Vigo, the second leg Copa del Rey match, to be played this Wednesday 8 February at 21:00 (CET) in the Mendizorroza stadium. Here's our report from the first leg, which finished 0-0.

Alaves - Celta Vigo: Copa del Rey second leg, preview

The sides have left all the work for the second leg, after a goalless draw in Balaídos, when it still had all its roof on. In the end the game goes ahead on the scheduled date, despite the protests of Alaves that it should be postponed because Celta had the weekend off due to that missing roof cancelling the weekend game against Real Madrid.

Alaves team news

After the draw in the first leg the tie is wide open, but Pellegrino's side will be full of belief, knowing they are playing at home. The team are delighted to be in a semi-final - their spell in the second division is a long time ago now.

Pellegrino is fully aware of the few chances the club has had to lift silverware, and so is prioritising the Copa del Rey over LaLiga. "We're going to do everything we can to take advantage of the opportunity", concluded the coach.

The team did try to have this game suspended, for the reasons given above, but the Spanish football federation were having none of it. Still Alaves got their excuses in, if they end up needing them.

Alaves man to watch:

Theo Hernandez. His speed and tricky skills are a constant danger for rivals. The left-back is a key component of Pellegrino's side, and if he's on form he could be decisive.

Celta team news

Berizzo has taken full advantage of his extra days off to prepare for this match. The Galicians failed to produce the goods at home, despite being well on top in the second half. Now they have to do it in Mendizorroza.

Just as for other big games, the Argentinean coach has brought his full 25 man squad, to support the team and "experience it together". Berizzo is aware of the problems his side had against Alaves, and knows he has to come up with a new strategy if he wants to meet Barcelona in the final at the end of the season. His focus: "Whoever controls the ball and uses it patiently will hurt the other side".

Celta man to watch

Iago Aspas. He's the main man up front for the Galicians and is deadly in front of goal. If he gets into space, expect some net billowing action.

Bet on Alaves – Celta Vigo now

Alaves vs Celta Vigo: match build-up