Coutinho carries Barca into final
Madrid, Feb. 9: Philippe Coutinho came off the bench to score his first goal for Barcelona in a 2- 0 win at Valencia on Thursday that saw his new club ease into another Copa del Rey ( King’s Cup) final.
Coutinho broke the deadlock in the 49th minute of the semi- final, second leg at Mestalla, having only come on at the start of the second half.
It was the first time the Brazilian had found the net since his blockbuster 160 million- euro ($ 192 million) move from Liverpool in early January.
Ivan Rakitic then swept home the second goal eight minutes from the end as holders Barcelona secured a place in the final for the fifth season running, becoming the first side to achieve such a feat.
Winners of the trophy in each of the last three campaigns, the Catalans will face Sevilla in the final set for the weekend of April 21 and 22. Sevilla beat Leganes 2- 0 on Wednesday to go through 3- 1 on aggregate.
“For me it is my first final, so it is a very special moment,” Coutinho told Spanish TV station Gol.
Trailing 0- 1 from the first leg after Luis Suarez’s strike separated the teams at the Camp Nou last week, Valencia did almost level the tie on aggregate early on. However, Rodrigo’s header beat Jasper Cillessen in the Barca goal only to come back off the bar.
Lionel Messi had come close on a couple of occasions for the visitors in the first half, but it was the introduction of Coutinho that swung the tie decisively their way.
Valverde sent his recent recruit on in place of Andre Gomes, and Coutinho quickly made his mark, turning in a Suarez cross at the back post.
Valencia had centre- back Ezequiel Garay carried off and then saw Cillessen make an incredible save to deny Jose Gaya from pointblank range in the 74th minute. They were condemned to a sixth straight defeat in all competitions as Suarez pounced on a Gabriel Paulista error and set up Rakitic to make it 20 on the night.