Barcelona ease through to the Copa Del Rey final

Barcelona drew 1-1 at Real Sociedad last night, to set up a mouth watering final against Real Madrid in April.

Barcelona held a 2-0 lead from last week’s first leg, and never looked likely to relinquish it. Barca could have been forgiven for taking it easy, but their goalscorer isn’t one to do things by halves.

Lionel Messi scored another wonder goal to add to his collection. He ran from the half way line, beat four Sociedad players on a mazy dribble and then slammed the ball past Zubikarai.

The goal gave Tata Martino’s men the freedom to express themselves. They passed the ball brilliantly, at times it was cruel watching Sociedad struggle to gain any possession. The scoreline didn’t reflect the away side’s superiority, especially when Griezmann added a late consolation for Real Sociedad. Xavi, the man of the match, made more passes during the game than the whole Sociedad team put together.

It was Messi’s 335^th goal for Barcelona. Why is that significant? It puts him level with the legendary Telmo Zarra. No player has scored more goals for a Spanish club. Having now scored three goals in his last two games, the wizard is back to his best. The record will be his sooner rather than later.

So we await the El Clasico final. This year’s Copa Del Rey promises to be as exciting as the La Liga championship race.