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Barcelona sets club record of 29 straight games without loss
In duel: Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic duels for the ball with Valencia's Ruben Vezo during a semifinal, second leg, Copa del Rey soccer match between Valencia and Barcelona, at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Wednesday
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In duel: Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic duels for the ball with Valencia's Ruben Vezo during a semifinal, second leg, Copa del Rey soccer match between Valencia and Barcelona, at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Wednesday. (AP/Alberto Saiz) (AP/Alberto Saiz)
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span class="inline inline-center">In duel: Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic duels for the ball with Valencia's Ruben Vezo during a semifinal, second leg, Copa del Rey soccer match between Valencia and Barcelona, at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Wednesday. (AP/Alberto Saiz)
Barcelona broke the club record with its 29th consecutive unbeaten game when its second-stringers salvaged a 1-1 draw against Valencia in the Copa del Rey semifinals on Wednesday.
Barcelona reached its third straight Copa final 8-1 on aggregate after it won the first leg 7-0 at the Camp Nou last week.
Striker Alvaro Negredo gave Valencia the lead in a breakaway before halftime, but Cameroon-born youngster Wilfrid Kaptoum, a member of Barcelona's B team, equalized in the 84th, two minutes into his senior debut.
Barcelona eclipsed the record it shared with Pep Guardiola's 2011 squad, despite playing without nearly all of its regular starters at Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, including Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar. The coach used youngsters, with Ivan Rakitic the only experienced starter.
The draw should increase pressure on Valencia coach Gary Neville, the former England defender who has been struggling in his first head-coaching job.
Barcelona will likely play the final against Sevilla, which holds a four-goal lead over Celta going into Thursday's second leg in Vigo.
Enrique's team hasn't lost since a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla in the seventh round of the Spanish league in October. It will try to win its 11th in a row.
Guardiola's steak ended with a 3-1 loss at Real Betis in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. His team won 23 games and drew five, scoring 85 goals and conceding 14.
Enrique's squad has won 23 games and drawn six, scoring 87 and conceding 15.
The Barcelona team coached by Rinus Michels and including Johan Cruyff in the 1973-74 season, won 27 straight games.
Negredo opened the scoring after entering the area free from markers. He found the net after his initial shot was partially blocked by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. The late equalizer by the 19-year-old Kaptoum came with a close-range shot after a low cross by Juan Camara.
Valencia had lost three straight games. It hasn't won in the Spanish league in 12 rounds, nine of those under the command of Neville. He said a win against Barcelona was crucial to start getting his team back on track.
Only about 16,000 fans showed up at the 55,000-seat Mestalla. A fan held a banner that read: "Bye bye, Neville."
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