Osasuna eliminated from Copa del Rey by Barcelona

The Copa del Rey, which translates as the King's Cup, although it is usually known as the Spanish Cup, has been going since before the creation of the Spanish league and while it is not seen as prestigious an award amongst major teams, there are often some shocks caused by teams from the lower leagues.

FC Barcelona has just qualified for the quarterfinals after beating Osasuna. In the home leg they won 4-0 meaning almost certain elimination for Osasuna, and in the away leg they beat them 2-1 despite Osasuna going a goal up in the first half. That is an exciting prospect for fans of Spanish football as it means that Barcelona will face Real Madrid in the next round, two more "clasicos" to take place in January.

With the Barcelona players looking like they were taking it easy after the near certainty of their quarterfinal qualification it seemed like no much would be happening in the match, which took place in freezing, foggy conditions and no doubt they were all looking forward to finishing the match and some warmth.

Quarter of an hour in Fontas received a nasty looking injury and was stretchered off and Pep Guardiola brought on Abidal in his place. Osasuna didn't really look as if they were going to do much either but at the end of the first half they started to threaten. The result was Osasuna going a goal up at the end of the first half, scored by Lekic.

When play resumed after the break the Catalans seemed to be working in a higher gear and the increased energy quickly paid off when Alexis scored from an Adriano cross to equalise.

Soon after Guardiola took Alexis off and replaced him with Lionel Messi, who charged about the pitch in his usual fashion; and Pedro went off in favour of Busquets after seeming to suffer a thigh strain. Then Messi set up Barcelona's winning goal in the 72nd minute from inside the area allowing Sergi Roberto to put the ball past the Osasuna keeper for the final goal of the match.

The Copa del Rey quarterfinals take place on the 18th and 25th of January, with the Bernabeu round first followed by the Nou Camp round a week later.