ESPANYOL 1-0 BARCELONA: Barcelona's unbeaten run, which stretched all the way back to the Supercopa de Espana in August, has finally come to an end. Espanyol struck late on and have managed to to come away with a rare, and well-deserved, win against their rivals. The Blaugrana looked far from their best all evening long, and they can't have too many complaints about the scoreline. They'll have to perform much better in next week's second leg if they're to avoid being knocked out.

61' PENALTY! Roberto bursts into the penalty area and is brought down by Granero, leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot. Barcelona have finally been presented with a great chance to take the lead...

62' SAVE! But they can't! Messi tries to beat Lopez to his left but is denied by a wonderful save from the goalkeeper. The Argentine looks absolutely stunned, and it's no wonder why. It wasn't the worst of penalties, and usually it would have found the back of the net, but what is proving to be a frustrating night for Lionel Messi shows no signs of ending.

88' GOAL! Espanyol have taken the lead late on! Navarro breaks down the right wing after clumsy play by Barcelona, and he easily gets the better of Ligne out wide. He then cuts a lovely pass back to Melendo, who immediately sidefoots a beautiful shot past Cillessen and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

ESPANYOL 1 BARCELONA 0: MELENDO ENDS UNBEATEN RUN

Young substitute Oscar Melendo beat Jasper Cillessen with two minutes to go as Espanyol inflicted Barcelona's first defeat since August.

Oscar Melendo's late goal saw Espanyol snatch a 1-0 win and inflict a first defeat on Barcelona since August, after Lionel Messi failed to score a penalty in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

A dominant Barca looked as though they would have to settle for a goalless draw after Messi saw his second-half spot kick saved by Diego Lopez on Wednesday, but little did they know that things were to get even worse.

Espanyol caught them on the break late on and youngster Melendo provided a neat finish for his first senior goal, inflicting a first defeat on Barca since the Spanish Supercopa.

Barca were on top from start to finish and created more than enough chances to take a victory back to Camp Nou.

But for all their control, the first half proved particularly frustrating, as clear-cut chances were hard to come by and when the visitors did manage to craft an opening, the opportunity was wasted or saved.

They should have taken the lead just after the hour when Messi stepped up from 12 yards out, but Lopez rescued Espanyol with a brilliant save and Melendo – introduced from the bench – struck two minutes from time to secure an unlikely victory for the home side.