Barcelona exit King’s Cup despite win

Barcelona crashed out of the Spanish King’s Cup after losing 5-4 on aggregate to Real Zaragoza in the competition quarter-finals on Wednesday.

In-form Argentine Lionel Messi grabbed the lead for Barcelona with an amazing header from a Ludovic Giuly cross in the 41st minute before Oscar Gonzalez nabbed the equalizer for Zaragoza seven minutes past the hour-mark.

Henrik Larsson doubled Barcelona’s lead in the dying minutes of the match but it wasn’t enough to see them progress to the semis to face Real Madrid, given their 4-2 loss to Zaragoza in the first-leg.

The match also witnessed Brazilian ace Ronaldinho receive his marching orders in the 38th minute for a foul on Zaragoza’s Cani, which caused the team to shatter in front of their opponents especially with Samuel Eto’o’s participation with Cameroon in their African Cup of Nations (ACN) campaign in Egypt.

Zaragoza will next face Real Madrid in the King’s Cup semi-finals first-leg that will take place on February eighth, which will also see Deportivo La Coruna play against Espanyol.

The second-leg matches of the King’s Cup semi-finals will take place on February 15th.