BARCELONA: Lionel Messi had a penalty saved as triple Copa del Rey holders Barcelona suffered a surprise 1-0 loss at city rivals Espanyol in a quarter-final first leg on Wednesday, ending an unbeaten run of 29 games in all competitions.

Espanyol’s academy graduate Oscar Melendo crashed in the only goal of a temperamental derby in the 88th minute, racing onto Marc Navarro’s low cross to punish Messi for missing a 62nd-minute penalty and send the home crowd into raptures.

“I have no words, I was looking forward to this first goal,” said the 20-year-old Melendo, who had come on as a substitute in the second half to net his first goal as a professional.

Barca had not lost to Espanyol since 2009 and this was their first defeat by their local rivals in the Cup since 1970. The last game they had lost in any competition was in the Spanish Super Cup to Real Madrid on Aug 16.

“We knew this day would come, we tried to delay it as much as possible but it couldn’t be today,” said Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets after the match. “The good thing is that we have the second leg to try to mount a comeback. We are lucky to have that game at home, and we will have to win whatever happens.”

The second leg of the tie at the Nou Camp is on Jan 25.

In a match of few chances Barca’s penalty, which came after a foul on Sergi Roberto, looked to be the decisive moment for the away side, but Espanyol keeper Diego Lopez dived superbly to his left to push Messi’s powerful shot wide. It was a rare miss for Messi, who is having a stellar season and is the La Liga’s top-scorer with 17 goals.

“The penalty save gave us the boost that we needed,” Melendo said. “We were playing too defensively.”

Navarro then came close to giving the hosts the lead in the 83rd minute with a dipping free-kick that forced an excellent save from Jasper Cillessen, before five minutes later setting up Melendo to net the winner with a low shot from the middle of the area.

“This victory is important for the history of the club and to break down all those walls,” said Espanyol coach Quique Sanchez Flores. “It was telling how long ago it had been since we’d won against Barcelona, now the counter is back zero and we’re immensely happy about that.”

Elsewhere, Sevilla battled back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Atletico Madrid as Diego Simeone’s decision to rest number one goalkeeper Jan Oblak in favour of Miguel Angel Moya backfired.

Moya clawed a cross into his own net in the 79th minute at the Wanda Metropolitano to cancel out Diego Costa’s arrowed strike six minutes earlier, while Joaquin Correa struck the winner in the 88th to give under-fire new Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella a much-needed victory.

Valencia came close to being shocked at their Mestalla stadium by Alaves, who are languishing in 17th place in La Liga and are just two points above the relegation zone, but Goncalo Guedes and Rodrigo scored in nine second-half minutes to overturn Ruben Sobrino’s 66th-minute opener for the away side.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018