Ernesto Valverde Lauds 'First Class' Jasper Cillessen Following Key Penalty Save in Sevilla Rout

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde commended the performance of 'first class' goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen after the Dutchman saved a penalty in Barcelona's thumping 6-1 against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. 

Cillessen saved a penalty with the Blaugrana 1-0 up, which proved to be a pivotal moment in the game, as the hosts scored shortly afterwards through Ivan Rakitic en route to an impressive victory. 

Having recovered from a 2-0 deficit in the first leg, progression for Barcelona means that they have reached the semi-finals for the ninth straight season. Should Barça win the Copa del Rey this season, it would be their fifth straight trophy in the competition. 

As quoted by Marca, Valverde said after the game: "There are always times when the game is decided in your favour or against, we had an open goal in the first leg that we did not score and then Sevilla beat us in a good second half. 

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"With a lot of push, we made it 1-0 and Jasper [Cillessen] intervened before 2-0, then we went to 4-1 and in the end we took advantage of the fact that the opponent went very high.

"The best thing is that we are sure that we are a team that takes steps forward, the determination we have had has been the key, if we go together, we will achieve many things.

"We have two great goalkeepers and Jasper is first class, we have the great fortune to have him, a lot of the success we are having lately is for our goalkeepers."

Barcelona will look to carry their red-hot scoring form into their next fixture, which sees them host Valencia in La Liga on Saturday at 17:30 GMT.