Barcelona blanks Espanyol in Copa

With Philippe Coutinho making his debut and Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez adding to their scoring run, Barcelona advanced to the Copa del Rey semifinals for the eighth straight year on Thursday.

First-half goals from Messi and Suarez guided Barcelona to a comfortable 2-0 victory over city rival Espanyol at Camp Nou Stadium, keeping alive the team’s hopes of winning its fourth consecutive Copa title.

The other teams in the semifinals are Sevilla, Valencia and Leganes, which on Wednesday stunned Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Valencia got past last year’s runner-up Alaves on penalties, while Sevilla eliminated Atletico Madrid. The draw will be held on Friday, with the first leg matches being played next week.

Barcelona had lost 1-0 to Espanyol in the first leg last week, but quickly evened the series when Suarez scored with a diving header less than 10 minutes into the match after a cross from the right by Aleix Vidal. Messi scored the goal that secured a 2-1 win on aggregate midway through the first half with a shot that deflected off a defender.

Messi and Suarez have combined to score at least a goal each in six of the team’s last seven matches.

Messi has found the net 10 times in his last 11 games, while Suarez has scored 11 goals in his last nine matches.

“I liked how we were able to control the game in the final minutes,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said. “We didn’t want to risk conceding like we did in the first leg.” /