Barcelona beat Atletico to set up cup final against Real Madrid

Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scores past Atletico Madrid’s goalkeeper Juan Musso in their Copa del Rey semifinal second leg in Madrid on Wednesday. (AP pic)MADRID: Barcelona will face fierce rivals Real Madrid in a mouth-watering Copa del Rey final after they beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at a feverish Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday to complete a 5-4 aggregate win.Following an eight-goal thriller in the first leg of the semi-final in Barcelona, Ferran Torres’s effort from inside the box in the 27th minute was enough to earn the Catalan side a win in the Spanish capital that booked their ticket to the final in Seville later this month.Torres was freed through the middle by Lamine Yamal and took the ball in his stride before striking a low shot into the bottom left corner past keeper Juan Musso.Atletico pushed for the equaliser in the second half, with substitute Alexander Sorloth missing a sitter from close range, but Barca held on to secure a narrow win.“Winning here already tastes great, so you can imagine scoring the winner which books a ticket to a final,” Torres told TVE.“The match was a war, a final was at stake. We did everything we could and it was in our hands to get the victory and get that place in the final.”After Real Madrid fought back to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw against Real Sociedad on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win, Wednesday’s result set up a Clasico between Real and Barca in the Cup final, something that has not happened for over a decade.Real and Barca have met in the Copa del Rey final on 18 occasions with Real leading the rivalry with 11 wins, including a 2-1 triumph in the 2014 final in Valencia.Barcelona thrashed Real both times they met this season, a 4-0 win at Santiago Bernabeu in LaLiga in October and a 5-2 victory in the Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia in January.Both sides are still in contention for three trophies this season as they are through to the Champions League quarterfinals and going head-to-head in what seems to be a two-horse race for the LaLiga title.Barcelona are top of the LaLiga standings with 66 points, three ahead of Real, with third-placed Atletico six further points back in the title race with nine games left.Real will travel to London to face Arsenal in the Champions League quarterfinals next week while Barca will host Borussia Dortmund. They will meet in the Copa del Rey final on April 26 at La Cartuja Stadium.Eliminated from the Champions League, Atletico’s season suffered another massive blow with their Cup exit as they extended their winless run to six matches, with all the signs pointing to a fourth consecutive trophyless season for Diego Simeone’s side.“We just have to face reality as it is…” Atletico defender Jose Maria Gimenez told TVE.“We’re far away from the top in LaLiga, but we’re going to try until the end and we’ll see where we stand in the end to see if the season is good or not.“We thank our fans from the bottom of our hearts and apologise for those moments when we were not up to the task. Together we are one and we are stronger. That is how it should always be and hopefully always will be.”

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Barcelona beat Atletico to set up cup final against Real Madrid

Ferran Torres’s effort from inside the box in the 27th minute was enough to earn the Catalan side a win.

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