Suarez gives Barcelona edge in Copa del Rey semi-finals

TIL Desk Sports/ Luis Suarez headed in the only goal as defending champions Barcelona edged Valencia 1-0 in their Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at a half-full Camp Nou. Barcelona, the record 29-time winners of the tournament, are attempting to become the first team to lift the cup four years in a row since Athletic Bilbao in the 1930s.

But yesterday they were forced to labour against a Valencia team missing a trio of key players — Goncalo Guedes, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Ezequiel Garay — through injury. Barcelona dominated possession but had to wait until the 67th minute for the breakthrough.

Not surprisingly, Lionel Messi was the man who unlocked the Valencia defence before setting up Suarez. The Argentine danced his way into the penalty area before a deft left-footed chip left three defenders out of position and allowed Suarez to score from the edge of six-yard box with a diving header.

Yesterday’s tight affair was dramatically different to the last time these two teams met at the same stage two years ago — Barcelona won 8-1 on aggregate following a 7-0 win in the first leg.