Valencia draw Barcelona in Copa del Rey semis first leg

 　　MADRID, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona and Valencia drew the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal 1-1 in Valencia's Mestalla Stadium on Wednesday.

　　Valencia opened the scoring through Jonas Goncalves, only for Carles Puyol to equalize for Barca with both goals coming in the first half of a highly contested match.

　　With his side having looked visibly tired last Saturday in Villarreal, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola chose to rest key players Xavi Hernandez and Dani Alves, with Isaac Cuenca, who signed a new contract with the club starting in attack.

　　In a full blooded encounter, Barcelona could have been down to 10 men after just 18 minutes after goalkeeper Jose Pinto touching¹ the ball just outside of his penalty area to deny Valencia striker Roberto Soldado a scoring chance.

　　Valencia did take the lead after 27 minutes when Jonas Goncalves scored following a cross from Jeremy Mathieu from the left.

　　Barcelona reacted and Valencia keeper Diego Alves made a fantastic save to deny Alexis Sanchez after 33 minutes. Sanchez had been put clean through after a great run by Cuenca.

　　Alves had been the hero to deny Sanchez, but from the resulting corner he was at fault as he failed to reach the ball allowing Puyol to head home a vital equalizing goal.

　　The second half saw no letup in the action and Leo Messi went close for Barcelona, before Diego Alves again denied the Argentinean and Gerard Pique² headed over from a corner.

　　Messi then had a chance to score from the penalty spot following a foul³ on Thiago Alcantara, but Alves redeemed⁴ himself by guessing the Barca striker's intentions and saving his shot, which was aimed to the keeper's left. With 17 minutes remaining, Dani Alves, who had come on as a substitute, hit the post after exchanging passes with Messi. Thiago then saw his shot from the rebound⁵ charged down.

　　The result is not a bad one for Barcelona, who will qualify for the final if the score remains⁶ 0-0 in next Wednesday's return leg.

　　Tuesday saw Athletic⁷ Club Bilbao win 2-1 away to Mirandes in the first leg of their semifinal clash and the Basque side are now clear favorites to reach the final.

1 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

2 pique   

v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气

参考例句：

• She went off in a fit of pique.她一赌气就走了。
• Tom finished the sentence with an air of pique.汤姆有些生气地说完这句话。

3 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

4 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

5 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。