Copa Del Rey Pre-Quarterfinal (Second leg): Espanyol 0-2 Barcelona - 5 talking points

Barcelona ensured that their progress to the Copa del Rey quarter-finals was done with an added Midas touch, as they backed up their 4-1 victory in the first leg last week with an impressive 2-0 defeat of Catalan rivals Espanyol at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat.After a bright start by the home side – who needed to score at least thrice to stand any chance of upsetting the 27-time cup holders – Barcelona’s superiority in class gradually began to show as the game progressed, dominating the game with possession and scoring two goals out of well-crafted moves to shut the door on Espanyol’s chances. We look at the various events that shaped up the encounter on Wednesday night:-

#1 Not the ideal derby atmosphere

The atmosphere of the match was not as nervy as the first leg

Whenever Barcelona set foot on the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, they are usually welcomed by a hostile atmosphere one could compare to the reception Manchester United get when they travel to Anfield on a Sunday afternoon. However, the situation on Wednesday was in complete contrast to a typical derby fiesta – the first leg result might have played a major part in that.

With Espanyol needing an impossible 3-goal victory to sneak into the quarter-finals through the back door, there was not much incentive for the Espanyol fans to put their Catalan rivals off, something which was justified by the vast number of empty seats across the ground.

Barcelona obviously wouldn’t have minded that even a bit. Their primary objective was to get the job done, which is exactly what they did in a professional manner. to steamroll into the quarter-finals of Spain’s primary cup competition.