Gary Neville was denied even the most futile of victories as Barcelona struck late to draw 1-1 in the return leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie.
This was a far more relaxed night than last week’s galling 7-0 defeat at the Nou Camp but Wilfried Kaptoum’s 84th minute leveller had the effect of making Neville’s troubled reign appear bleaker still, cancelling out Alvaro Negredo’s first half goal, which looked set to offer temporary respite.
Only 16,000 fans made it into the Mestalla for the match and although Neville was not given the noisy funeral some expected, they still turned their boos on the team at the final whistle. This game in reality was a dead rubber, more a plebiscite on Neville than anything else. His next, and possibly final test, is Saturday’s game back at the Mestalla against Espanyol, the only team with as bad a league record as Valencia since Neville took over.
The section behind the goal usually occupied by the noisy ultras was practically empty, save for a handful of supporters, while the top tier around the stadium held hardly any supporters either.
The teams came onto the pitch to a hum of whistles and cheers, but the overall sensation was one of numbness, the feeling that few cared about the outcome of the match.
That was reflected in both manager’s starting line-ups. Even though he had an unbeaten record at stake, Luis Enrique fielded just three of the 11 players that humbled Valencia the week before, and Neville also made eight changes, handing starts to two reserve team players. With the hope of a turnaround utterly implausible, the game was played at walking pace.
Alvaro Negredo
Barca knocked the ball around freely, prompting some half-hearted boos from Valencia fans, and managed three shots on goal before Valencia had any. Their first was a clever effort from 17-year-old Fran Villalba that curled just over the bar. Before that Pablo Piatti tried to lay the ball on for Mina, but Jeremy Mathieu slid in to block. Valencia took the lead six minutes before the break. A long hopeful ball over the top from Aderlan Santos caught the Barcelona back line unaware and Negredo raced towards goal completely unchallenged. The former Manchester City striker has missed all manner of gilt-edged chances in recent weeks and almost squandered this opportunity, shooting against the body of Marc-André ter Stegen, but it bounced back into his path, allowing him to knock in with his left foot.
Santos might have added another before the break but headed wide, and at the other end Munir El Haddadi headed wide of the near post with the goal gaping, team-mate Marc Bartra getting in his way before he made contact.
Wilfrid Kaptoum, minutes after coming on the pitch, finishes first time from Juan Camara's cross.
It looked as if both teams were just going through the motions in the second half. Barca missed further chances, while Villalba’s free-kick was tipped over the bar by Ter Stegen. Substitute Kaptoum had the final say, smashing a low cross from the left into the bottom corner. It had no effect on the outcome of the tie, only serving to further sadden Valencia’s numb supporters.
