Barcalona holds off Madrid rally to reach cup semis, 4-3

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona held off a spirited Real Madrid fightback to hang on for a 2-2 draw on Wednesday that was enough to edge its eternal rival once again, this time for a place in the Copa del Rey semifinals.

Barcelona looked headed for a comfortable victory when it went up 2-0 by halftime in the second leg of another feisty "clasico" matchup, but ended up narrowly escaping with a 4-3 aggregate victory after Madrid rallied in the second half.

Defending champion Madrid dominated much of the frantic, up-tempo game full of penalty appeals and physical play, but still had to watch as Barcelona took a commanding lead into halftime thanks to late first-half goals from substitute Pedro Rodriguez and Daniel Alves.

Having lost the first leg 2-1 at home and needing three goals to advance, Cristiano Ronaldo started the comeback with a 68th-minute goal before substitute Karim Benzema equalized from an individual effort in the 73rd.

But Madrid finished the game with 10 men after Sergio Ramos was sent off for a second booking the 88th, and Barcelona once again came out on top of the traditional matchup as Madrid coach Jose Mourinho left the Camp Nou winless in nine visits. It was a measure of revenge for last year's loss to Madrid in the cup final, although the scrappy match cost Barcelona Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez to injury.

"We played a great team, this is a 'clasico' so you know right up to the end you're going to have to suffer and hold off your rival," said Alves, who scored one of the best goals of his career with a scorching shot in the second half. "They caused us a lot of problems by pressuring high, but we knew how to respond."

Mourinho certainly didn't approach the return with the same defensive plan he used in the first leg, and opted to include Pepe in the lineup despite the defender — who was jeered loudly with every touch — drawing widespread criticism for stamping on Lionel Messi's hand in the first leg. Mourinho's future with the Spanish club had been questioned following the lackluster first leg loss.

"We played a good game, the players played a very good game," said Mourinho, who did not apologize for his first-leg tactics. "We came here looking to win. We knew we were behind, we were motivated, wanted to win."

Madrid was unlucky over the first half hour as Mesut Oezil hit the crossbar with a superb 30-meter effort, and Barcelona keeper Jose Manuel Pinto made a number of point-blank stops on Gonzalo Higuain.