Henry the king of the cup (1-0)

Barcelona made it through to the semi final of the Copa del Rey thanks to a single goal from Thierry Henry in the first half of a one-sided game in Camp Nou against Villarreal on Thursday night.

The Frenchman netted the only goal of the tie shortly before the visitors were reduced to ten men when Pascal Cygan was sent off, while in the second half Lionel Messi saw a penalty saved and Ronaldinho made his long-awaited comeback.

The Blaugrana were in confident mood throughout the second leg of this quarter final tie, however, and overwhelmed a Villarreal team that only managed one shot on target all evening.


It was a domineering performacne by the hosts, who passed and moved the ball around and were only thwarted from increasing their lead by a number of fine saves, wasteful finishing and a busy defence.

Strong start
Frank Rijkaard had said that he wanted an early goal and Barça came out of the traps firing on all cylinders and made life very uncomfortable for the away team, who struggled to cope with the speed and strength shown by their opponents. Inside the first eight minutes Andrés Iniesta, Messi and Rafa Márquez had all had chances, before Henry warmed up down the left flank to test Diego López, who had a fine game in goal for Manolo Pellegrini's team.

Winning strike
Giuseppe Rossi did provide one moment of concern for the visitors in the 16th minute when he turned on the edge of the area and shot into the side netting, but the action soon resumed at the other end. Messi had a brace of chances in quick succession that the keeper kept out before Deco blazed over the bar. It did appear to be a matter of time before the deadlock was eventually broken and when it did, Villarreal suffered a double penalty just before the break. Cygan fouled Messi and was booked and the resulting free-kick was swung into the area by Deco where Henry was left unmarked to nod home before racing away to celebrate in the corner of the pitch.
Cygan sees red
Two minutes after going behind Cygan was again mesmerised by the quick feet of Messi and the French defender stuck out a leg as the Argentinian trickster jinked his way along the edge of the area and caught his opponent. The referee thought long and hard before issuing a second yellow card and then the red. From the free-kick, Diego López made a superb save to tip away Messi's curling drive towards the top corner.



Making changes
After the break, Pellegrini made a double substitution in a bid to change his side around, but that move may have backfired as Marcos Senna picked up a knock a few minutes later and had to be replaced. TheChilean coach looked set to introduce Nihat Kahveci before he was forced to use his third chance.

Rijkaard also made a switch as Carles Puoyol was taken off with a knock and replaced by Lilian Thuram at the back. But it was not in defence that Barça had to focus as the forward line again laid siege to their opponents's area with Messi in particular shining with his incredible runs into the area and passing outside it.

Intense finish

With 16 minutes remaining barça were handed a chance to double their advantage when the referee awarded a penalty after Diego López had palmed the ball away with his hands and not connected with Bojan Krkic.

The Barça forward did not appeal for a spot-kick and Villarreal were not pleased, but the keeper made amends when he tipped Messi's effort from 12 yards around the post. Just before the Argentinian had stepped up to take his shot, Ronaldinho made his return to action as he came on to a loud cheer from the home fans.



Goal :

1-0 Henry (41')