Copa del Rey: Barcelona cruise past Real Betis

More Copa del Rey action continued on Wednesday with two LaLiga giants in action. Here’s what went down.

Barcelona cruise past Real Betis

Goal scorers: Gavi 3′, Kounde 27′, Raphinha 58′, Torres 67′, Yamal 75′; Roque 84′ (P)

Barcelona cruised into the Copa del Rey quarters with a 5-1 win over Real Betis.

Gavi broke the deadlock after receiving a ball from Dani Olmo in the box and his close control skills helped him drive home a low curler.

Another youth was later doing his thing in Lamine Yamal. The 17-year-old scored the second goal as Jules Kounde made it 2-0.

As Barcelona chased a third, VAR was busy. An emphatic Kunde strike off the crossbar was ruled out for offside, before a Yamal goal was disallowed for the same reason.

But an in-form Raphinha ensured his side hit three goals on the night as he volleyed home from inside the box for his 30th assist of the season.

Substitute Ferran Torres later got in on the action with his own salvo from the bench as he hailed the haters in celebration.

Yamal later finally added a goal of his own to end back-to-back games in which Barcelona scored five.

A comeback from Real Betis was certainly never in doubt, with the visitors only registering three shots on goal against one of Europe’s best teams.

But Vitor Roque erased Barcelona’s hopes of a clean sheet with a late penalty.

Elche vs Atleti (LIVE)

Goal scorers: Sorloth 8′, 29′ (P), Riquelme 61′

Elsewhere in Spain, Elche host Atletico de Madrid as both clubs look for a place in the next round.

The hosts maintained most of the possession in the first half, but the visitors found the back of the net.

Alexander Sorloth opened the scoring after he picked off his defender just above the penalty spot and smashed home easily into the right side of the net.

The striker then converted a penalty to double the advantage for Diego Simeone’s side.

Unfortunately for Elche, it got worse after the break when Nicolás Fernández was sent off with a second yellow card and 40 minutes remaining.

The man advantage allowed Atleti to score a third through Rodrigo Riquelme.

More to follow…

MANAURE QUINTERO – AFP or licensors