Barcelona Edge Past Albacete Into Copa Del Rey Semis

Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo’s goals helped Barcelona reach the Copa del Rey semi-finals with a nervy 2-1 win at Albacete on Tuesday.

The record 32-time cup winners were pushed to the end in a tight quarter-final clash by their second division opponents, who knocked out Madrid in the previous round.

Yamal fired Barca ahead just before half-time and Araujo headed home the second early after the break on his first start since taking a month-long mental health break at the end of last year.

Albacete created several chances in the last half hour and Javi Moreno headed home with three minutes to go to give holders Barca a scare.

Flick’s side controlled the game in the first half but could not easily break down Albacete’s resistance.

Marcus Rashford spurned a couple of decent openings in the opening few minutes, and after that the hosts shut up shop against Hansi Flick’s side.

Spanish champions Barcelona’s brightest player was, as usual, teenage star Yamal, and they eventually made the breakthrough when he struck in the 39th minute.

Rashford pressed well to win the ball back, and Frenkie de Jong’s pass bobbled into Yamal’s path for the 18-year-old to curl home.

Antonio Puertas got in behind Barcelona’s defence at the other end but took a heavy touch and goalkeeper Joan Garcia was able to snag the loose ball.

The stopper accidentally gave away a corner as he walked off the pitch with it to pat Araujo on the head, in a comical moment before the break.

Dani Olmo should have doubled Barca’s lead early in the second half when Rashford put the ball on a plate for him but his shot was blocked.

Puertas’s volley deflected off De Jong and just over Garcia’s goal as the hosts threatened sporadically.

Jefte Betancor, who scored Albacete’s stunning winner against Real Madrid, cut inside Araujo and whipped a shot just wide.

Puertas put the ball in the back of Barca’s net with seven minutes to go but there was an offside earlier in the move and it was disallowed.

Albacete finally scored in the 87th minute when Moreno’s powerful header from Jose Lazo’s free-kick flew past Garcia, but they could not find another to force the game to extra-time.

Gerard Martin headed Fran Gamez’s effort off the line as Barca endured a nervy five minutes of stoppage time to triumph.

In the other quarter-finals Valencia welcome Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad visit Alaves on Wednesday, while Atletico Madrid travel to face Real Betis on Thursday.

AFP