FC Barcelona will play Valencia in the semi finals of the Spanish Cup. Racing Santander and Getafe will play the other draw. Barsa, “King of Cups” with 24 titles, have reached the semi finals 10 years after winning their last Spanish Cup against Mallorca. Henry’s goal last night allowed Barcelona to reach the semifinals, in a very delicate moment of the season, 9 points behind Real Madrid and just about to re-take their presence in The Champions League.

FC Barcelona v Valencia is, for many, a final, since Racing Santander never reached this point in the competition and Getafe only played one final, last year against Sevilla. Valencia FC are living an important crisis, and haven’t scored in the last 4 games played in La Liga in 2008. The Spanish Cup is probably the last chance to play a European competition next season, since they are 6 points behind the UEFA positions and 10 points behing the Champions League ones.

Ronald Koeman: “Barsa is the rival that nobody wanted”

Koeman said, after the draw celebrated this moring, that FC Barcelona is the rival that all teams wanted to avoid but that the tie is down and they have to accept it. “Getafe, Racing and us probably wanted another rival, but the tie is done and we have to prepare it. But now we have more important games in La Liga”. Regarding the second leg being played in Valencia, the manager said that it’s good, but it’s not a definitive factor, and reminded that in the last round, 3 out of the 4 qualified teams played their first game at home.

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FC Barcelona is closer to win their first Spanish Cup since 1998. Winning this competition is almost mandatory for this Barsa, even though they’d need to overtake three new obstacles: the semifinals -also reached by Valencia, Getafe and Racing Santander - and the big final on April 16th. The next rival will come from the draw celebrated today at noon.

Last week’s defeat in Bilbao seemed to encourage the teat that showed a completely different attitude than in San Mames. The team reminded the good times and, with Henry and Messi giving their best performance, Barsa challenged Villareal during the first half. But thanks to an outstanding performance from the goalkeeper Diego Lopez, the Yellow Team avoided a bigger defeat.

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Joan Laporta has denied this morning to be thinking of bringing Johan Cruyff back to coach the squad. He said “this option hasn’t been considered by the management team. Frank Rijkaard is signed until 2009 and I’d personally like him to coach the team until 2010″. He added “Rijkaard has been 5 years coaching the squad, he has got our full support and will stay in the club for as long as he wants”, ” I consider him a very prepared person, from a professional and personal point of views, and I’m not willing to replace a manager that adds value to the image of the club”. He also revealed that Cruyff are very good friends and meet up often, sometimes joined by Txiki Beguiristain.

Laporta also wanted to put the pressure upon Real Madrid, expecting a drop in their performance, and advising his players to be ready when that happens, in order to close the 9 points gap that the White Team currently enjoys.

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Enjoy.

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The brazilian is the main attraction for the game that the FC Barcelona is playing tonight against Villareal. The FC Barcelona fans are eager to see Ronaldinho back on track, after just over a month away from the games. Ronaldinho is one of the last hopes to help FC Barcelona to turn a poor performance season. Frank Rijkaard’s squad dream with a title that they haven’t won since 1998. After the goalless draw in El Madrigal Stadium, FC Barcelona will have to fight to reach the Spanish Cup semi finals. The 9 points gap with Real Madrid in La Liga has encouraged Rijkaard to focus in The Champions League and Spanish Cup. Since the next Champions League round won’t happen until February, the team can focus on a competition in which they are three games away from the title, with big rivals like Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid out of the competition.

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