He suffered a world before the claw of Albali Vineyard Valdepeñasbut Barcelona was faithful to the predictions and got the first ticket to the semifinals of the Futsal Spanish Cup after winning 3-2. In an unbeatable debut for the tournament played in Granada, with an attractive game, alternatives on the scoreboard and a lot of emotion, it was the quality of the blaugranas, led by the Brazilian Pito, which ended up tipping the balance.
That it was going to be tough was announced by the numerous Valdepeñas fans who had come to Granada with a huge banner. «To the conquest of Granada. 1492 and 2023 », he prayed on a blue-tinted background. And what if his team put up a fight. Against a favorite Barça, Viña Albali gave 200 percent to equalize the pulse. He even went further because he took the lead on the scoreboard after seven minutes through Claudino, in a corner that the blue fans celebrated anticipating what was going to happen, with the ball in Didac’s net.
The 0-1 enraged Barça, who raised the intensity several points. That was enough to break off the hostilities and the struggle turned to blows. The markings became personal fights. Solano versus Coelho, Rafael versus Sergio Lozano… and in that scenario the referees almost ended up with a sprained wrist from so many cards that they had to distribute among themselves.
After 12 minutes, the Catalans brought order after a timeout and began to harass Edu Sousa’s goal. The Portuguese, a real cat, resolved the occasions. And when he did not arrive the stick appeared, which repelled a shot from the Brazilian Pito after a great personal action.
It was the warning of what would come in the second half, a total harassment of the Catalan team that ended up turning the score around with two great goals, first from Adolfo and then from Pito.
I whistle dry the reaction
Forced by the result, Valdepeñas advanced lines and pulled a player like Ivi, a bet that paid off for David Ramos with five minutes to go when he made it 2-2. The stands, always on the side of the weakest, celebrated with rage, but again Pito, thirty seconds after the tie, cooled things down, putting Barça ahead again with a great personal action. Without Ferrao or Dyego, casualties due to injury, his compatriot put the team on her back.
With two minutes to play and both teams on the brink of the foul bonus, Valdepeñas took out goalkeeper-player. And he had chances to tie but Didac, masterful, ruined them and the last hopes of extending the game. The first semifinal already had an owner.
Fits, before two UMA players
Movistar Inter signs a great game
The second quarterfinal was very different, from the game to the score (0-6), going through the refereeing style, much more fluid, or the heat in the stands. Although in this match he was not so favorite Movistar Inter like Barça in theirs, the Madrid team proved to be one point above an antequera from kick-off and got very fast with a comfortable lead. It didn’t take Cecilio four minutes to lodge a loose ball in the net, in a play that Sepe imitated shortly after to score the second. And in between a vertical and fluid game that led the Andalusians with their tongues out, capable of disturbing Jesús Herrero after the 0-1 draw, but without fangs.
Inter has built a squad full of resources so that their coach, Pato, can take advantage of them at his discretion, and the man from Alicante does not waste them. Pivot game with Fits, out of four, the threat of Lazarevic… it’s difficult for the opponent to constantly adapt. He even threw UMA as a goalkeeper-player to try to take the initiative, but the people from Madrid defended well and continued to create the best chances.
The marker did not move until the teams went through changing rooms. Cecilio once again took advantage of a rise from the UMA goalkeeper to make it 0-3. The goal and a post from Fits woke up the Andalusians, who turned on the door of Jesús Herrero. It was of no use other than to raise the pulsations of the goalkeeper of the Madrid team a little. Fits brought the score to 0-5, first after a rejection of the post from a shot by Lazarevic and then taking advantage of a superiority due to the expulsion of Alvarito with a double yellow card. Drahovsky put in the sixth to close the game and Inter’s pass to the semifinals, where they will face off against Barça.