By Chris Wright
I'm willing to bet your gut reaction to the news that Sergio Busquets got well and truly
knobbled in a challenge with Real Sociedad's Carlos Martinez during the home side's 2-1 win at the
Nou Camp last night was somewhere along the lines of 'what goes around, comes around' but that
doesn't make the deep laceration that the Barca midfielder suffered any less grotesque.
FC Barcelona took a good step towards proceeding to Copa Del Rey final with a 1-1 draw at
Mestella. Considering how tough we have found recently in Valencia, this draw is as good as a win -
especially because of the away goal. In the 27th minute Jonas put Valencia ahead, but Carles Puyol
equalised for Barca in the 36th minute.
Puyol's header gives Barça 1-1 draw in first leg of Copa (Photo: AP Photo/Paul White)
Barcelona rallied from a goal down to ensure a 1-1 draw against Valencia in the first leg of
their semi final showdown in the Copa del Rey.
La Mestalla provided all of the hostility the Catalans could handle, as Valencia came
out of the gates in a surging frenzy, mounting unrelenting pressure in the opening minutes trying
to force a crack in Barcelona's defensive armor.
Tello scores goal in victory over Real Sociedad (Photo: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Lionel Messi scored one and assisted another as Barcelona successfully fought off their San
Sebastian rivals in a freezing, sub-zero encounter at the Camp Nou.
Pep Guardiola rolled out the reserves for this one, choosing to rest key starters ahead of his
team's Copa del Rey semi final clash with Valencia on Wednesday.
By Alan Duffy
Once the blonde-haired, blue-eyed prince of Spanish football, Fernando Torres has, in the space
of a year, turned into a £50million flop.
Since moving to Chelsea from Liverpool, the attacker has seriously lost his mojo and now his
impotence in the Premier League has seen him fall out of favour with World Champions Spain.
