Real Madrid and Barcelona on course for Copa del Rey Final

Real Madrid and Barcelona are currently on course to meet as the finalists of this season's Copa del Rey tournament. This would be just the second time that the great rivals have met in the tournament final. Real Madrid cruised through their semifinal and won 3-0 against title holders Atletico Madrid. Some fans consider it sweet revenge for the defeat by Atletico in last year's final as Real lost 2-1. Record-winning Barcelona beat Real Sociedad at Camp Nou with a 2-0 final score to earn their place in the final. Real Madrid quickly tried to make amends for the loss they suffered at the hands of Atletico last year as Pepe's effort was deflected by Insua into his net within the first 20 minutes. Rodriguez, chosen late to start for the team after Bale's calf withdrawal left him unable to play, scored again to double Real's game advantage near the 60 minute mark. Real virtually secured their final place as Di Maria's deflected strike once again resulted in another own goal by the Atletico defender. Not only did the match end in a resounding defeat for Atletico, further misery was caused as Costa earned a booking from the ref that ruled him out of the second leg next week. Costa spent his time in play being victimised by Pepe and Arbeloa, Real Madrid's defensive duo. Last weekend, Atletico had been at the top of the La Liga scoreboard, but this defeat, the first in 25 games, brought them back to Earth with a crash. Buy tickets for the upcoming Real Madrid vs. Barcelona or other tickets for the La Liga cup matches online. Barcelona also played their last match at home, settling for a 2-0 score that pushed them further through the La Liga competition. A modest win against Sociedad was all that Barcelona needed and all that they acquired. Barcelona did not have much trouble dominating the other side as Sociedad seemed to be concerned with their defence than creating goal scoring opportunities. Busquets scored for Barcelona not long before half time with a bizarre own goal from Sociedad's defender putting Barcelona 2-0 up in the second half. "We were hoping to score more goals as our opponent only had a ten man team in play and I think we could have scored more, but it was still a good result. So far, we haven't conceded any goals on our home turf and that works well in our favour", commented Xavi, Barcelona's captain.