In the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, there was a clash between the first and the third team of the current La Liga season. FC Barcelona with Robert Lewandowski in the squad faced at Camp Nou with Real Sociedad in great shape. Xavi Hernandez put up exactly the same eleven that defeated Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup a week and a half ago. An additional flavor on Wednesday evening was the person of the referee Jesus Gil Manzano, who in November sent Robert Lewandowski off the field in a match against Osasuna Pamplona and described his behavior in such a way that the Pole was punished with a three-match disqualification in the league.
Lewandowski didn’t score, Dembele a hero. Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-final
The beginning of Wednesday’s match was even, but already in the 11th minute Robert Lewandowski was close to happiness. The Pole, who was very hard attacked by the defenders of Real Sociedad, after a good action of his team, fired a shot from 10 meters, which after a ricochet was heading towards the guests’ goal. The problem is that the ball still hit Frenkie De Jong, who was in the offside position, and although it went into the net, the goal could not be disallowed.
From then on, Barcelona gained a big advantage. De Jong tried to surprise the rivals’ goalkeeper twice, and once he was very close to it, when Ousmane Dembele slid just wide of the goal after the centre. Sam Dembele also tried his luck in the 18th minute, but his shot from 18 meters after an individual effort was narrowly missed.
As half an hour passed, the visitors from San Sebastian had their only chance in the first half. The only one, but extremely dangerous, because after a shot from the left side of Pablo Marina’s penalty area, the ball hit the bar of Barca’s goal.
In the 38th minute, this match changed for good thanks to Brais Mendez. The Spanish midfielder, who had treated both Pedri and Robert Lewandowski very harshly minutes earlier, fouled Sergio Busquets very brutally in the middle of the field, hitting the plugs at the height of his opponent’s tibia. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano originally showed Mendez a yellow card, but after VAR intervened, he had no doubts – a direct red card and Real Sociedad had to play with ten men.
Even before the break, Barcelona threateningly but unsuccessfully attacked the goal of their opponent, and the first half ended in a goalless draw. The second, however, started perfectly for Robert Lewandowski’s team. Although in the first good situation after a set piece of the game Jules Kounde skiked badly in front of the goal, but in the 52nd minute it was 1:0 for the hosts. Jules Kounde launched a perpendicular pass from Ousmane Dembele on the right, and he could have put it in front of Lewandowski’s goal, but he decided on a powerful shot from a tight angle, which surprised Alex Remiro and opened the scoring.
In the following minutes, however, Barcelona did not follow the blow, and began to doze a bit. Real Sociedad, playing shorthanded, was close to taking advantage of this, but after a flat cross by Takefusa Kubo from four meters, Alexander Sorloth missed terribly, who instead of an empty goal, he shot over the crossbar.
After about ten minutes, the hosts managed to gain full control of the game and for a long time there was not much going on under Ter Stegen’s goal. Barca, on the other hand, were actively looking for a second goal. Gavi shot at the crossbar from a few meters, Robert Lewandowski was blocked after a dangerous header, and in several other situations the defenders of the team from the Basque Country intervened very generously and effectively.
Despite the clear advantage, Barcelona almost scored an equalizer in the very end. After a terrible pass by Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Robert Navarro stood with the German, but he lost this duel, and Carlos Fernandez hit only the side netting. In extra time, the German goalkeeper had to deflect another substitute Jon Olagasti’s shot from 16 yards.
Ultimately, FC Barcelona, playing for more than half of the match in the advantage, modestly defeated Real Sociedad 1-0 and was the first to advance to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. The Catalans will meet their potential semi-final rivals in the coming days, and on Saturday in the league they will face Girona away.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
