Eliminating the LaLiga 2 standings, Barcelona to the Copa del Rey Quarterfinals

Barcelona had to work hard to beat Spanish 2nd division leaders Racing Santander 2-0 in the Copa del Rey 16th round at the Sardinero Stadium, Friday, January 16, 2026 early morning WIB. The victory qualified Barca for the quarter finals.

Barca showed consistency in performance even though they played with a different player formation. After winning and defending the title in the Spanish Super Cup or Supercopa de Espana, Barca continued the positive trend when playing in the Copa del Rey.

Contrast with Real Madrid who finished as runners-up in the Supercopa de Espana which led to the dismissal of coach Xabi Alonso. Failing in Saudi Arabia, Madrid tried to bounce back when playing in the Copa del Rey. The result turned out to be beyond expectations because Los Merengues even fell when facing a team from LaLiga 2 Albacete. Ironically, Madrid was forced to surrender 3-2 against Albacete who occupied the bottom of the league 2.

If Madrid only faced opponents who were threatened with relegation but lost, on the other hand, Barca met Racing who were leading the LaLiga 2 standings. Even Racing has the opportunity to play again in the highest class, the Spanish LaLiga, if they are able to maintain their position until the end of the season.

This is what makes Barca still have to work hard in the 16th round of the Copa del Rey. Even the team coached by Hansi Flick played a tight match before getting a ticket to the quarter finals. The result makes Barca win 11 times in a row in various competitions.

In the match that brought together the two leaders of the standings of different classes, Barca came down with full strength. However, Flick kept a number of pillar players, including Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, Robert Lewandowski to Ronald Araujo. On the other hand, young star Lamine Yamal along with Marcus Rashford became starters. They built an attack trident with Ferran Torres replacing Lewandowski.

The match itself was delayed for 15 minutes because fans who wanted to watch had difficulty entering the stadium. After everyone could get in, the match started and Barca, who holds the record of 32 times Copa del Rey champion, immediately dominated. However, Barca had difficulty breaking through Racing's solid defense.

The best opportunity was obtained by midfielder Dani Olmo who greeted Rashford's cross. Only, he failed to take advantage of the opportunity. This was the only opportunity created by Barca. Meanwhile, Racing got a chance through Giorgi Guliashvili. But his kick could be stopped by goalkeeper Joan Garcia so that the score remained 0-0 until the first half ended.

Entering the second half, Barca continued to play offensively by pressing the home team's defense. Rashford had threatened the opponent's goal but still failed. The first opportunity for the Manchester United loan player could still be deflected by goalkeeper Jokin Ezkieta. Furthermore, Rashford's kick was wide so that no goal was created.

However, the patience of the Barca players finally bore fruit. After their repeated attacks always failed, Torres finally broke the deadlock in the 66th minute. The goal started from Fermin Lopez's assist who came in to replace Marc Bernal. He sent a pass to Torres who had fooled goalkeeper Ezkieta before breaking into the Racing goal.

Leading 1-0, Barca continued to play offensively. However, Racing also put up a fight. In fact, they actually scored twice through Manex Lozano. Only all the goals were annulled because he was in an offside position.

Lozano again got the chance to equalize after facing one-on-one with Garcia when the match entered injury time. But the goalkeeper was still able to thwart the good opportunity and close the opportunity for Racing to force extra time.

On the other hand, Barca managed to add a goal before the match ended. This time, Yamal consolidated Barca's advantage after welcoming a cross from Raphinha who replaced Rashford. The goal in the 90+5 minute gave Barca a 2-0 lead and shortly after the match ended.

"We didn't expect them to be so difficult to beat," said Torres, who admitted that the match was really not easy for Barca.

"But we know we have to stay calm and in the end everything went as expected," he said.

Meanwhile, Racing defender Alvaro Mantilla admitted he was disappointed with the defeat. Moreover, the team played very well and even almost perfect. However, the hosts failed to take advantage of the opportunity so they had to be eliminated in the Copa del Rey.

"We played very well. Our assessment of the game is 10 out of 10. Only, our two goals were ruled offside and had opportunities towards the end of the game. But that's football," said Mantilla.