Copa del Rey: Bentez upsets Mestalla and pushes Celta to the quarterfinals of the Cup | Copa del Rey 2023

Updated Wednesday, January 17, 2024 – 22:23

He Celta I fell silent Mestalla with three goals that put him in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey. Sali Rafa Bentez victorious for having found the formula to make the team of Rubn Baraja. The best captain in the storm that is the Valencian club chose to try to advance in the competition by the most difficult route, the one that could be broken without fully understanding why it had been such a vulgar team. [Narracin y estadsticas]

The old stadium on Avenida de Sweden loves the Cup and went out of its way to be a destabilizing factor in a duel that was expected to be even and collapsed in five minutes. Celta, as if Bentez had given precise instructions on how to assault this field, had it easier than he expected. The non-negotiable rotations did not weigh on them like Valencia, who hesitated and suffered until they found themselves stuck and eliminated.

Baraja bet even harder than his master and reserved Gay o Mosqueraentrusting the attack to the young man Alberto Mar as Hugo Duro’s company and reserving the creation to Javi Guerra. It immediately became clear that Valencia does not have such a perfect mechanism that the movement of so many pieces has no consequences.

A header from Paulista at the exit of the first corner and a Chilean half from Duro wanted to intimidate the Galicians who, with the strong west wind in their favour, struck first, and twice. A streak made Jaume measure badly when clearing a corner kick and the ball was offered to Kevin Luca De la Torre so that, with a back heel, he would put them ahead.

With no time to react, the second blow of maximum punishment arrived. Burgos did not doubt, nor did Var warn, and pointed out the eleven meters for Diego López’s knockdown of Miguel Domnguez. Douvikas, who drinks this Cup in long drinks, added his fifth goal, which would not be the last of the night, and gave the Galicians a cushion in 17 minutes that they had to manage. That’s what Bentez had prepared them for, and in his two visits to what was his stadium he has managed to barely create any danger for him.

Celta’s second unit, full of homegrown players, was not only proving sufficient but also had a lucidity that made an uncomfortable Valencia suffer, thrashing around unable to control the game. He did not tie up his rival, who created danger with great ease, nor could he launch counterattacks, slowed down by his own mistakes or by the strong wind. He saved Jaume with his foot from a Douvikas cross shot just before Valencia received an extra life.

Douvikas shoots between Yarek and Jess Vzquez.M. BRUQUEEFE

Carlos Domnguez made a shot in the area that, although the referee did not see, the VAR warned him that he had blatantly cleared the ball with his elbow. Pepelu, impassive, tightens the score in the 29th minute and he wanted to play hard to get the tie before the break. He didn’t get it. In a crazy way and never with an advantage he reached Ivn Villar’s area, where Celta defended himself tooth and nail while he released Domnguez to make the team uncomfortable. Jess Vzquez and Douvikas became a perpetual headache for Yarek. Two chances closed the first half: the Valencian player was taken by Starfelt with his neck under the sticks; Celtia’s mistake was a foul from the front that they crashed into the barrier.

Valencia needed to accelerate after the break, and put a Celta in trouble that also did not comply with the script. Far from locking itself in, it just kept itself organized. The danger barely came with a long shot from Jess Vzquez into the stands, a poorly directed header from Hugo Duro and a run by Gay to put a cross in for Yaremchuk who rushed Ivn Villar.

There was no one to visualize the comeback, but Douvikas buried it with the third goal in the 80th minute. Celta are in the quarterfinals from Mestalla, as in the 16/17 season when they reached the semifinals. Vigo’s dream is still alive.

2024-01-17 21:23:40
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