"Barcelona are through to the semi-finals of this season's Copa del Rey thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win away to second tier Albacete on Tuesday night's quarter-final. The Blaugrana were the better team and should have won a lot more easily, but they had to survive some late drama to secure the win and book a spot in the Spanish Cup's Final Four."
"Barça played a pretty solid first half, dominating the ball and not allowing Albacete any real joy on the counter as the home team had a couple of promising moments but never came close to truly creating danger for the Blaugrana. The Catalans should have scored in the first 10 minutes when Marcus Rashford missed two massive chances one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the Blaugrana had to wait over a half-hour to take the lead thanks to an assist by Frenkie de Jong and a gorgeous finish by Lamine Yamal."
"Hansi Flick made a sensible substitution at halftime, replacing João Cancelo, who was on a yellow, with Pau Cubarsí. Barça continued to control the game and doubled the lead before the hour mark as Ronald Araujo headed home a corner from Rashford and gave his coach a big hug in a lovely moment for the Uruguayan. The rest of the game was a tale of transitions and missed chances as Barça wasted a few really good opportunities inside the box while Jefté Betancor, the hero against Real Madrid in the last round, missed two giant chances to bring the home team back in the contest."
Barcelona controlled the match for long spells, dominating possession and limiting Albacete's counter chances while creating several clear openings. Marcus Rashford missed two early one-on-one chances, and the breakthrough arrived after more than 30 minutes when Frenkie de Jong assisted Lamine Yamal for a fine finish. Hansi Flick substituted João Cancelo at halftime, and Ronald Araujo headed a Rashford corner to make it 2-0 before the hour. Albacete pressed late, Javi Moreno scored from a wide free-kick to create late drama, and the visitors had to withstand pressure to advance to the Final Four.
Read at Barca Blaugranes
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