FOOTBALL UPDATE

Barcelona's quest for a fourth consecutive Copa del Rey title began with a finely poised round of 16 tie at Balaidos.  The 1-1 result in the first legmeant there was all to play for at the Camp Nou, but a lightning start from the hosts, with Messi the architect, soon ended Celta's hopes. A favourable result at home meant Celta had their work cut out to cause an upset, but Lionel Messi had other plans. The Argentine looked lively from the off, eager to get involved and testing Sergio Alvarez with a low strike early on. The danger signs were there, and he made no mistake when given a second chance, sweeping a half volley into the bottom corner after picking up a pocket of space on the edge of the box. Barcelona were ahead, and they doubled their lead just two minutes later. Jordi Alba provided the assist again and Messi finished with aplomb into the bottom corner. The Catalans were sublime to watch in a manner only ...

Gareth Bale arguably should have done better early on as he attacked Marcelo’s cross from the left, before Cristiano Ronaldo saw a low effort easily saved by Ruben Blanco in the home goal.  At the other end, Iago Aspas got caught in two minds when played in on the left and opted to look for a pass that wasn’t on, rather than go himself. Aspas went even closer with 13 minutes gone as he side-footed Hugo Mallo’s cross from the right against the near postafter escaping the attentions of Real’s back-line. Both sides looked at their most dangerous on the counter at this point, with Daniel Wass wasting a good chance after being teed up by Maxi Gomez, before Casemiro forced Ruben into a save with a long range strike. What followed can only be described as ‘five minutes of madness’ as Celta took the lead, only to relinquish it in the blink of an eye. First, Celta broke the deadlock thanks to a fine goal from Daniel Wass. The Dane was left all...

The Barcelona manager knows his side can't afford to be complacent after playing to a 1-1 draw in the Copa del Rey first leg. Barcelona will show Celta Vigo respect when the Galician side travel to Camp Nou for the second leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 tie, says Ernesto Valverde. Jose Arnaiz gave Barca the lead in the 15th minute at Balaidos, but Pione Sisto slammed home an equaliser before half-time. Ousmane Dembele came on in the final 20 minutes for his first appearance since September, but the game ended 1-1, leaving everything to play for. Celta earned a 2-2 draw at the Catalan giants in La Liga last month, a result that would be sufficient to send them into the quarter-finals if repeated next Thursday, leaving head coach Valverde wary. "It's another competition and we know Celta's quality. They showed it in La Liga and again today," the Barca boss said. "They will come to play and we will too. We know the quality they have from La Liga. We r...