Barcelona avoid Copa del Rey upset as Yamal seals win at Racing

Barcelona keep winning after Supercopa triumph

Defending champions Barcelona avoided a major scare in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, edging second-division leaders Racing Santander 2-0 to reach the quarterfinals.

The result extended Barça’s winning run to 11 matches, coming just days after their Spanish Supercopa victory over Real Madrid. Madrid, meanwhile, were knocked out a day earlier by Albacete, making Barcelona’s controlled progress even more significant.

Torres breaks the deadlock late on

After a tense and goalless opening hour, Ferran Torres finally gave Barcelona the breakthrough in the 66th minute. The forward raced clear on the counterattack, collected a pass from Fermín López, rounded the goalkeeper and finished into an empty net.

Teenager Lamine Yamal sealed the win deep into stoppage time, scoring in the sixth and final minute of added time to put the result beyond doubt.

Rashford heavily involved but wasteful

Marcus Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, was central to much of Barcelona’s attacking play. He nearly created the opener inside 10 minutes with a dangerous ball across goal, but Dani Olmo could not connect from close range.

Rashford also went close himself just before halftime, only to see his deflected effort well saved by Racing goalkeeper Jokin Ezkieta. Shortly after the break, he missed another big opportunity, again denied by Ezkieta after good work from Yamal.

Racing threaten but fall short

Racing did not go quietly. A defender cleared one Barcelona effort off the line, another attack ended with a corner hitting the crossbar, and two Racing goals were later ruled out for offside.

In second-half stoppage time, substitute Manex Lozano missed a golden one-on-one chance to equalize, with Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García producing a crucial save.

“Thankfully we have Joan in goal,” Torres said after the match. “These teams are well prepared and full of quality, which is why these games are so difficult.”

Rotation pays off for Flick

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick rotated his squad, leaving Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Pedri on the bench. All three were introduced in the second half as Barça pushed to secure the win.

Before kickoff, Racing players formed a guard of honor for the Spanish Supercopa champions, while kickoff itself was delayed by 15 minutes due to access issues at the stadium.