Barcelona survived a late comeback from holders Real Madrid to knock them out of the Spanish Cup with a 4-3 victory on aggregate after a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp where the visitors put up a spirited fightback to come from two goals down.

Jose Mourinho may still not have won away to Barcelona in nine attempts as a coach, whether at Real or any of his other clubs, but his team's performance was a perfect answer to the critics who have blasted their recent poor displays against their arch rivals.


Barcelona's Xavi. Pic/AFP.

First-half goals by Pedro and Dani Alves looked to have put the game beyond the reach of Real before they fought back to level on the night with goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, but in the end came up short and had defender Sergi Ramos sent-off late on.

"The players worked hard and I would like to congratulate them for their performance," said Barca coach Pep Guardiola.