Barça and Bilbao to meet in Copa del Rey final
Neymar netted a brace as Barcelona reached the final of the Copa del Rey for the fourth time in five years where they will face Athletic Bilbao following a 3-1 (6-2 aggregate) victory over ten-man Villarreal at Estadio El Madrigal.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg at the Camp Nou three weeks ago, Barça opened the scoring early on as Neymar scooped the ball over home goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo from close-range to put his side 1-0 up on the night.
Jonathan dos Santos equalised for the hosts as he got on the end of Jaume Costa's cross to net at the far post five minutes before the break, but they lost Tomas Pina to a straight red card midway through the second half following his two-footed lunge on Neymar.
Uruguay international Luis Suarez added a solo goal for Barça after 73 minutes as he picked the ball up on a run outside the 18-yard box and beat Asenjo before slotting into the bottom corner from close range, while Neymar added the gloss as he headed home from the six-yard box with less than two minutes remaining.
Later on Wednesday, Bilbao claimed a 2-0 victory over Espanyol at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat in the second leg of their semi-final.
With the scores 1-1 after the first leg, the visitors took the lead after 13 minutes as the home defence failed to clear Oscar de Marcos' cross and Aritz Aduriz picked the ball up and slotted past a diving Pau into the bottom corner for his 15th goal this season.
Bilbao went 2-0 up just before the break as Xabier Etxeita headed home from Andoni Iraola's corner to complete a 3-1 aggregate victory and set up a final clash with Luis Enrique's men.