Gary Neville was six minutes away from a morale-boosting victory on Wednesday night, only for teenage Barcelona striker Wilfrid Kaptoum to deny the under-fire Valencia coach.
The 1-1 result proved immaterial, with Barca advancing into the Copa del Rey final 8-1 on aggregate, but Neville’s face was one of fury as he watched Kaptoum tap in Camara’s low centre in front of a sparsely-populated Mestalla.
With thousands boycotting the game in protest at their team’s dreadful season, the game was played amid an atmosphere which more resembled a low-key reserve game than a cup semi-final.
Small band of angry fans greet team bus. "Bye bye Gary Neville, next coach" reads one banner pic.twitter.com/YNb9Q05dQ1
— Rik Sharma (@riksharma_) February 10, 2016
Barcelona set a new club record by registering their 29th consecutive game without defeat, but manager Luis Enrique’s team selection suggested he wasn’t too concerned by that potential milestone before kick-off. Ivan Rakitic was the only member of Barca’s regular first choice starting 11 even included in the squad, and Enrique experimented further by lining up his players in a 3-5-2 formation with Aleix Vidal and Adriano as wing-backs.
Nevertheless, the visitors started more brightly and threatened in the opening stages as Sandro and Rakitic sent efforts over the bar, before Munir El Haddadi jinked inside a pair of challenges but sliced his shot wide.
Valencia could barely get hold of the ball in the opening stages, but they gradually started to assert themselves and the game became a more even contest. The first opening for the hosts came when Alvaro Negredo did brilliantly to find Pablo Piatti, and his cross appeared destined to give Santi Mina a tap-in until Jeremy Mathieu, playing against his former club, made an excellent lunging intervention.
The deadlock was broken shortly before half-time, when Barca’s defence was caught napping and allowed Negredo to run through. The striker’s attempt to chip MarcAndre ter Stegen was saved, but the rebound fell fortuitously for Negredo to stroke home.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with Barca controlling possession but lacking a cutting edge while Valencia looked to play on the counter-attack.
There were few chances, although Ter Stegen did well to tip over Danilo’s free-kick but as Los Che thought they had something to take into the Espanyol game, Kaptoum popped up within two minutes of coming on as a substitute.
