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Zaragoza ends Barcelona's record winning streak
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-27 09:38 Ewerthon and Diego Milito
scored two goals each and Zaragoza downed FC Barcelona 4-2 Thursday in first-leg
Copa del Rey quarterfinal to end Barca's Spanish-record 18-match winning streak.
Barcelona, which had won every game since Oct. 22, couldn't recover after
allowing three goals in four minutes midway through the first half at Zaragoza's
La Romareda stadium.
Barcelona's
Argentinian soccer player Leo Messi (L) fights for the ball with Real
Zaragoza's Alberto Zapater during their Spanish King Cup soccer match at
La Romareda Stadium in Zaragoza, Spain January 26, 2006.
[REUTERS] |
| Barcelona, a 24-time champion of
Spain's knockout competition but not since 1998, tried to rally on a goal by
striker Henrik Larsson in the 36th and Ronaldinho's 62nd-minute penalty.
Ronaldinho was taunted with monkey noises by some Zaragoza supporters before
he took the penalty and later in the game, Cadena SER radio station reported.
The second leg at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium is next Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Real Madrid and Espanyol advanced to the semifinals with
second-leg victories.
Madrid edged defending champion Real Betis 1-0 to win 2-0 on aggregate.
Espanyol beat Cadiz 2-0 and advanced on a 4-0 aggregate score.
Valencia's second-leg game with Deportivo La Coruna was abandoned in the 44th
minute after an assistant referee was cut on the face by a coin thrown from the
crowd.
Valencia, which had just taken a 1-0 lead at its Mestalla stadium to level
the aggregate scores 1-1, was ordered by the Spanish soccer federation on
Thursday to play the remainder of the game in an empty stadium.
The clubs were given 24 hours to choose the date for the 46-minute encounter.
However, Deportivo said Thursday it would not propose a date and, instead,
would appeal to the state body, the Spanish Committee of Sporting Discipline, in
a bid to get the federation's decision overturned.
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