Can't We All Just Be....Oh, Screw It!

Twelve minutes into the second half of the second leg of the Copa del Rey match between arch-rivals Real Betis and Sevilla, chaos bloomed. The silky-footed Frederic Kanoute scored in the 57th, breaking the 0-0 tie, but before the players could finish their celebrations, projectiles rained down upon the pitch and Sevilla's head coach Juande Ramos was struck in the back of the head with a bottle. As players, staff, and police scrambled around the unconscious Ramos--who was then stretchered off the pitch and into the locker rooms--it was obvious that the safety of the players, and everyone else for that matter, could not be guaranteed and the match was called off. I bet the programmers at GolTV love it when that happens.

You can read more about the incident here.

Luckily the second leg Copa match between Barcelona and Zaragoza went off a lot better. Barca, who are still redeeming themselves after last week's dreadful (though historically consistent when facing Liverpool) Champions League match against The Reds, returned to their united fleet-footed witchery and knocked Zaragoza out of the cup with a 2-1 win. There were a few ridiculous moments (Hey, Messi, I'm looking at you! D'Alessandro! Where the $@!% are you going?!) but Barca dazzled with some nifty passing courtesy of Iniesta, Xavi, and Marquez. Iniesta and Xavi also supplied both goals. Good match, good form, and no one got hurt, although there was plenty of rambunctious flailing about. Messi, get back over here! Okay, okay, I saw the footage. You did get head-butted. But. . . .