Villarreal set up a King’s Cup semi-final against Barcelona after Gerard Moreno gave them a 1-0 victory at Getafe on Thursday to secure a 2-0 aggregate success.
Villarreal are unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions and now face their first ever cup semi-final against last year’s runners-up Barca who knocked out Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
Espanyol secured a surprising 3-2 aggregate win over a spirited Sevilla side despite conceding a late goal in a 1-0 defeat when Diogo Figueiras pounced two minutes from time.
They will play Athletic Bilbao who beat Malaga 1-0 with an Aritz Aduriz goal at the start of the second half dividing the teams over the two legs.
The game at Getafe's Coliseum Alfonso Perez was played at a slow tempo with few openings at either end.
However, youngster Moreno made the most of the chance that fell his way by rounding keeper Jona and slotting into an empty net 12 minutes from time.
“This is more than just having completed an objective as we have reached the semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history,” Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia told a news conference.
“We are now two games away from the final and we will face a very tough rival who are possibly in their best form of the season but we have plenty of hope.”
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