Espanyol 1 - Barcelona 2

Espanyol and Barcelona kicked off the quarter final matches with an action packed local derby at the Montjuic stadium on Tuesday night. Rivaldo gave the visitors the lead in the twelfth minute with a free kick from the edge of the area which left keeper Argensó rooted to the spot. Then ten minutes before half time referee Carmona Méndez sent off Espanyol's Rotchen for a second bookable offence, and a few minutes later Alfonso added the second with a shot which hit the post, came back off the back of Argensó's head and rebounded into the goal off the crossbar. Barcelona hit the bar either side of half time, before the break from an Alfonso header and a few minutes after when Rivaldo unselfishly set up Luis Enrique in front of an open goal, the midfielder's shot ricocheting down on to the line before bouncing back out. From a possible 0-3 it almost immediately went to 1-2, Tamudo intercepting a bad pass from Abelardo with his upper arm before racing on to slide the ball past Reina. Espanyol's Tamudo and Toledo both had apparently valid penalty claims turned down, and a few minutes later the same two players hit the woodwork, Tamudo's lob bouncing back off the bar and then Toledo striking the post with a header. Both sides had scoring chances before time finally ran out, and they cross swords again next week in the second leg at the Nou Camp. (30.01.01)