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On a late Wednesday evening, a real surprise was presented in Spain by Barcelona's "Espanyol," playing the second leg of the King's Cup semi-final match in La Coruna against the local team "Deportivo" and reaching the tournament final.
In the final, the Barcelona club will face Valencia, who unexpectedly eliminated Madrid's "Real" in the semi-finals, defeating the Royal club 6-1 in the first match and losing 4-0 in the second leg.
La Coruna 0 - 0 Barcelona (first leg 1-2, aggregate score 1-2)
In front of 28 thousand spectators, the three-time winners of the King's Cup, who last won this trophy in 2000, the footballers of "Espanyol," defended excellently from the start of the match, disrupting the "Deportivo" players who had territorial advantage.
The guests could almost secure a ticket to the final already in the second minute of the match, but a shot by attacker Raul Tamudo's head missed just wide. After this episode, the initiative was seized by the hosts, forcing the "Espanyol" goalkeeper, Cameroonian Carlos Kameni, to make a strong save.
It is precisely this player who can be considered the hero of the match, as he resisted very dangerous shots from Pedro Munitis, Angel Arizmendi, and Joan Capdevila. Although in the 63rd minute the shot by Luis Garcia was deflected by "Deportivo" goalkeeper Jose Molina, towards the end of the match the game was only played near the visitors' goal, but the well-defending "Espanyol" players secured a ticket to the final.
The King's Cup final will be played on April 12 at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium in Madrid.
It is worth noting that the team winning the Spanish King's Cup earns a ticket to the UEFA Cup tournament. In the event that the winner of the King's Cup also secures a place in the national championship, guaranteeing a spot in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup, the ticket goes to the other team that participated in the final.
