Barcelona Overcomes Albacete in Copa del Rey

Barcelona escaped the killer giant Albacete after winning 2-1 in the Copa del Rey quarterfinal at the Carlos Belmonte Stadium, Wednesday, February 4, 2026 early morning WIB. The victory brought Barca to the semifinals.

Albacete became a nightmare after making a surprise by eliminating the Spanish LaLiga giant, Real Madrid. The surprise happened in the 16th round when Albacete, who played in the second division, was able to beat Madrid 3-2.

The failure was the bitter debut of Madrid's new coach Alvaro Arbeloa who replaced Xabi Alonso. Instead, Albacete advanced to the quarterfinals to meet another elite team, Barca.

Barca itself does not want to follow in the footsteps of its competitors when visiting Albacete's headquarters. This makes coach Hansi Flick fully aware of the opponent who actually only ranks 12th in the Segunda Division by fielding the best squad in the match.

However, Flick still rotated the players by putting Alejandro Balde, Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez on the bench. The former Bayern Munich coach's efforts were not in vain. Only, Albacete was able to give a tight fight and even reduce the deficit. However, they failed to add another goal to equalize the score and had to admit Barca's 2-1 lead.

"It's not an easy game. We have to work hard to face it," Flick said as quoted by ESPN.

"We should have made it easier because we completely controlled the match in the first half. We also dominated in the second half by creating a number of opportunities. But the match was really tight and we deserved to win," he said.

Flick also admitted to being satisfied and did not hesitate to praise his team's performance. Even though they played a match with a busy schedule in various competitions, they were able to win.

"We played a match on Wednesday [local time in the Champions League] and then played on Saturday and now Tuesday [Wednesday morning WIB]. I'm proud of the team's fighting spirit. We really want to win the tournament and make it happen. Now we've made it to the semifinals," said the former German national team coach.

In the match, Albacete, who was highly motivated after eliminating Madrid, did try to play aggressively. At least, the hosts created opportunities through Antonio Puertas. However, goalkeeper Joan Garcia showed his best performance by thwarting two opportunities from Puertas.

Furthermore, Barca began to actively apply pressure. Defender Gerard Martin who also layered the attack got the opportunity to break Albacete's goal. Only a cross from young star Lamine Yamal failed to be finished by Martin.

If Martin fails, on the other hand, Yamal succeeds in converting an opportunity from midfielder Frenkie de Jong in the 39th minute. The goal started with the action of Marcus Rashford who passed two Albacete defenders. The Manchester United loan player then gave the ball to De Jong.

Yamal who got the opportunity through De Jong's assist then fired a first time shot that defeated goalkeeper Raul Lizoain. The 1-0 lead made the Blaugrana more aggressive in pressing Albacete's defense.

Towards the end of the first half, midfielder Dani Olmo almost increased Barca's lead after receiving a cross from Yamal. But his header still went wide. The one-goal lead lasted until halftime.

Entering the second half, Barca did not slow down the game. Their attack finally bore fruit after captain Ronald Araujo broke Albacete's goal in the 56th minute. The Uruguayan national team defender's header, which greeted Rashford's corner, gave Barca a 2-0 lead.

Barca still played offensively. However, their efforts to add a goal were not successful. Lizoain's goalkeeper made a brilliant save by thwarting opportunities from Robert Lewandowski and Olmo. Meanwhile, Torres' shot, who replaced Lewandowski, was still unsuccessful.

When under pressure, Albacete managed to narrow the gap. Defender Javier Moreno, who greeted Jose Carlos Lazo's header, successfully broke Garcia's goal in the 87th minute. Moreno's header changed the score to 2-1.

Barca actually managed to add a goal through Torres. However, after being reviewed by VAR, Torres' goal was canceled because he was in an offside position. The score remained unchanged and Barca ended the match with a 2-1 victory.