Copa del Rey: Madrid, Barca to clash in finals
Copa del Rey: Madrid, Barca to clash in finals
Real Madrid will play Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final for the first time in 21 years.

Madrid: Real Madrid will play fierce rival Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final for the first time in 21 years after Spain's biggest teams both recorded comfortable two-legged wins on Wednesday.

Madrid beat Sevilla 2-0 for a 3-0 overall win, while Barcelona earlier defeated Almeria 3-0 to complete an 8-0 aggregate victory.

Mesut Oezil scored in the 82nd minute for Madrid with a cool finish before Emmanuel Adebayor hit his first goal for the 17-time Copa champions, who are through to a record 37th final and first since 2004.

Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said he is not especially motivated by the showdown against Barcelona, which has won a club-record five straight matches over his team.

"We have the usual desire that comes with playing in a final and we'll try to win it as always," the Portuguese coach said. "After the difficult trajectory — winning all our games against Atletico Madrid and Sevilla — we deserve to be in the final."

Adriano, Thiago and Ibrahim Affelay scored for Barcelona, which will look to add to its record 25 wins and pick up a second domestic cup in three seasons on April 20 against Madrid, four days after the pair meet in a Spanish league "clasico."

Mourinho can bring the club its first piece of silverware since the 2007-08 league title. Madrid currently trails Barcelona by seven points in the league, with the two-time defending league champions on a record 15-game winning streak.

Oezil raced in alone on Javi Varas and evaded the Sevilla goalkeeper with a dribble to the right before firing into the empty goal.

Adebayor, who came on soon after the Germany playmaker's goal, scored in the game's final play, the on-loan striker chesting a cross down before firing into the roof of goal.

Madrid created better opportunities than Sevilla, with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo guilty of failing to convert clear chances in the first half. Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo had a goal disallowed for a dubious offside call before halftime.

Benzema shot wide of an empty goal after Angel Di Maria's attempt had come off the post in the fifth minute, while Varas denied Ronaldo point-blank in the 31st.

Madrid midfielders Fernando Gago and Pedro Leon were left out of the squad after a reported bust-up in the changing room.

Varas made a save from Di Maria from the edge of the box in the 68th, and Brazil striker Luis Fabiano was then brought on as Sevilla went forward in search of an equalizer.

But Madrid exploited the open space, Xabi Alonso and Benzema coming close before Oezil provided the breakthrough.

At Juegos Mediterraneos stadium, Adriano skirted past two defenders into the area to beat goalkeeper Esteban Suarez with a low shot for Barcelona's 35th-minute opener.

"We achieved what we wanted after two great games by the team," the Brazilian fullback said after scoring his first goal for the club.

A diving Suarez barely got his fingertips to Thiago's header in the 56th as the Barcelona reserve-team player exquisitely turned Daniel Alves' short cross home to double the lead.

Ibrahim Affelay unleashed a fierce shot past Suarez in the 76th for his first goal for the Spanish champions, who have outscored Almeria 16-0 in three games played this season.

Barcelona won the 1990 final 2-0 over Madrid, which hasn't won the Copa since 1993. Mourinho, however, isn't giving up.

"We wanted to recover Real Madrid's prestige in this competition," Mourinho said. "History says favorites don't exist in finals. History says the team that has less chance of winning can still win."

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