Barça will play this Sunday (4:00 p.m., Teledeporte) their tenth consecutive Copa del Rey final by beating Ademar León in the semifinals (39-30) with more difficulties than expected until the break. In the second half, the Catalans swept (20-14 run) thanks to their quality as the bench with the entry of Aleix Gómez and the saves of Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (15).
The Blaugrana team, to avoid being scared by Torrelavega (who managed to score two 0-3 sets), began to defend seriously from the start, with Carlsbogard and Fàbregas in the center, and were soon able to take advantage of two goals ( 5-3, 6-4). But it did not last long. The inconsistency and speed of Ademar led to a succession of draws that Barça could not break.
Carlos Ortega, who reserved some of his best players from the start (Mem, Cindric, Aleix Gómez), brought on the French winger at 16m with the 9-9 to try to unravel the attack, which was beginning to crash against the Algerian goalkeeper Saeid Barkhordari, who had 5 stops at a quarter of an hour.
The exclusion and subsequent disqualification of Manolo Cadenas left the Leonese orphans on the track. In dead times, it was Juan Castro who gave instructions to his teammates.
The precarious situation gave Ademar the spirit of feat, who replicated everything that Barça put in. Supported by their goalkeeper, the Castilian team repeatedly matched each blaugrana advantage (8-8, 10-10, 11-11), until with Deividas' 14-14, Carlos Ortega got fed up and asked for time (24m) to straighten the course and Cindric came to the rescue with two goals, Gonzalo made his sixth save and against Janc scored his fourth goal, Wanne the second and the reassuring 4th (18-14) in a furious 4-0 run.
In this way, Barça reached the break with a comfortable but inconclusive 19-16.
But the uncertainty that had remained was soon diluted with the 5-1 start that Barça nailed after the break, with which they were up 7 (24-17). In that brilliant outing, Aleix Gómez was decisive with three goals in his first interventions in the duel. At the same time, Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas kept stopping and stopping.
In the exchange of goals, Barça imposed its quality and settled in a 6-7 goal lead, supported by its endless assortment of scorers, but Ademar did not lose face and came close to 5 goals with the umpteenth penalty scored by Antonio Martínez, on 31-26 with 13 minutes to go. Ortega did not want scares and asked for a warning and order timeout.
A 4-0 run, with three goals from winger Martí Soler and another from Thiagus Petrus, rounded off the match with 37-28, 9 maximum income, with 7 minutes to go. Time that Ortega took advantage of to bring on Haniel Langaro, who reappeared after being out since December 15.
Barça has taken over the Copa del Rey, a tournament in which they have not lost for just 10 years: the last time was on May 3, 2013 against Atlético de Madrid in the semifinals. This Sunday he will aspire to his 27th trophy, the 10th consecutive.
Barça: Pérez de Vargas (1), Wanne (4), N'Guessan (3), Carlsbogard (2), Fàbregas (2), Richardson (2), Janc (5); Makuc (3), Mem (3), Parera, Petrus (1), Cindric (5), Aleix Gómez (5, 1p), Martí Soler (3), Nielsen (ps).
In addition: Barkhordari, Martinez (7, 4p), Zanas Virbauskas (1), Juan Castro (2), Deividas Virbauskas (7), Darius Sanz (1); James Soussa (3), Santista (6), Kim Jin-Young (1), David Fernandez (1), Minambres (1), Papantonopoulos (ps).
Referees: Oyarzun and Zaragueta (Navarra). They excluded and disqualified Manolo Cadenas (at 10m). No players excluded.
Partials: 4-2, 6-6, 8-8, 12-11, 14-14, 19-16 (rest); 24-17, 26-21, 30-24, 33-28, 37-29, 39-30.
Track: Santander Sports Palace. About 1,000 spectators.
