Malaga hold Barcelona to a draw in Copa del Rey

Posted on January 17, 2013 by SoccerPunter

Barcelona suffered setback in Spain Copa del Rey after Ignacio Camacho scored a late equalizer for Malaga to finish the quarter-final first leg match 2-2 at Camp Nou.

Despite leading at half-time thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and skipper Carles Puyol, Barcelona surprisingly failed to win the match although Malaga‘s defender Nacho Monreal was sent off on 75th minutes.

Nevertheless, Barcelona is almost certain to win this season Primera Division (La Liga) as they sit top of the table with 11 points over second place Atletico Madrid.

Atletico Madrid vs Real Betis for Copa del Rey tonight.

However, just as Malaga have shown in their maiden Champions League campaign that they are made of stern stuff so they did in Barcelona as Ignacio Camacho tucked the ball away neatly with a minute remaining after both Puyol and centre-back partner Javier Mascherano failed to get high enough to clear a free-kick.

On Tuesday Barca’s great rivals Real Madrid had taken a big step towards the semi-finals as they beat Valencia 2-0 at the Bernabeu.

Goals by Karim Benzema and an own goal by Mexican defender Andres Guardado gave the hosts a much-needed boost and kept alive their hopes of some domestic silverware this season as in the league they are third and trail Barcelona by 18 points.

However, it was far from an assured performance by Jose Mourinho’s side and, but for some poor Valencia finishing, they could have been travelling to Valencia for the second leg on level terms.

Benzema, though, steadied their nerves eight minutes before half-time as the France international striker showed some kind of return to form as he slotted home after being set up by Sami Khedira in a move started by Michael Essien.

The hosts’ second came in the 73rd minute from a counter attack just after Valencia’s Brazilian striker Jonas had missed a terrific opportunity to equalise.

Guardado put the ball into his own net from Fabio Coentrao’s centre and the damage could have been greater for the visitors had not Vicente Guaita made two point blank saves from Cristiano Ronaldo in a matter of minutes.