MY ACCOUNT
Holders Barcelona were dumped out of the Copa del Rey and saw another trophy slip away as Xavi’s team lost 3-2 after extra time at Athletic Bilbao.
Home captain Iker Muniain hit the first and last goals of the night, opening the scoring with a delicious strike. Ferran Torres responded against the run of play before half-time with his first goal for Barcelona. Inigo Martínez then scrambled what looked like a late winner, only for Pedri to strike in the third minute of stoppage time.
Muniain restored Athletic’s lead with a penalty at the end of the first half of extra time, and this time there was no way back for Barcelona, who lost substitute Ansu Fati to an apparent injury.
Barcelona drubbed Athletic 4-0 in last year’s final, with Lionel Messi getting two goals, Antoine Griezmann one and Frenkie de Jong also on target. That made this sweet revenge, and Athletic richly deserved the win.
Muniain gave Athletic a second-minute lead, collecting the loose ball after Nico Williams crossed low from the right. From a deep position beyond the far post, Muniain took two sharp touches to set himself and curled a sumptuous strike over Marc-Andre ter Stegen and into the far corner.
Torres replied from a similar spot and with a comparable finish in the 20th minute, stepping inside Oscar De Marcos and whipping a shot beyond Julen Agirrezabala.
Yet Barcelona were ripe for being picked off at the back and kept allowing chances, Muniain and Nico Williams going close before the break.
The visitors were stronger for the introduction of De Jong and Fati just after the hour, yet they looked doomed when Athletic’s second goal arrived in the 86th minute, scrambled in from close range by Martinez after Alex Berenguer’s header was only half-blocked by Ter Stegen.
Pedri dramatically made it 2-2 with a thumping strike from 15 yards, but Barca then lost Fati to injury early in extra time, and they conceded a penalty when Nico Williams’ cross struck Jordi Alba on the arm from close range. Muniain blasted past Ter Stegen, Barcelona complained to no avail, and it is Athletic who go into Friday’s quarter-final draw.
What does it mean? Another one bites the dust
Barcelona have long looked likely to finish this season empty handed, but they would have considered this competition as one where they might compete for silverware, perhaps hoping Real Madrid would be taken out by someone else.
The Blaugrana are the most successful team in the history of the Copa del Rey, but Athletic rank second on that list, ahead of Madrid, and they were clearly the better side here, roared on by passionate support at San Mames.
Last week, Barcelona were dreaming of Supercopa success, but that dream and this one have been crushed. LaLiga hopes are in tatters, leaving just the Europa League as a target, and even that looks like a long shot for this Barca.
Athletic almost let it slip
Athletic had 10 shots to Barcelona’s one in the first half, despite having just 36.3 per cent of possession. It was a 45 minutes in which Muniain and Nico Williams looked like world-beaters, and Athletic were almost left to regret not taking their chances.
They had not been beaten in their last 10 matches when scoring the opening goal in the Copa del Rey (last-32 onwards), dating back to December 1 2016 against Racing Santander. Thanks to Muniain’s accuracy from 12 yards, that run extends to 11 games now.
Muniain magic
With a game-high four shots and five key passes, Muniain was on vintage form. The 29-year-old was a threat inside and outside the penalty area, always looking to probe at the Barcelona defence and getting plenty of joy. This was captaincy par excellence on a big night for Athletic, who showed Xavi, now more than two months into his Barca reign, trophies will not come easily to the Catalan giants.
Key Opta facts
– Barcelona will not feature in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals for the first time since 2009-10, when they fell against Sevilla in the last 16.
– Muniain has been involved in eight goals against Barcelona in all competitions in his career with Athletic, more than against any other opponent (six against Betis and Real Sociedad).
– Muniain is the first Athletic player to score at least twice in a game against Barcelona in all competitions since Aritz Aduriz in August 2015 (a hat-trick in Athletic 4-0 Barcelona in the first leg of the Supercopa).
– Nico Williams has been involved in four goals in his last five games for Athletic across all competitions (three goals, one assist) after not recording a goal involvement in his first 22 competitive games for the team.
– The goal by Torres was his first at club level since September 2021 (for Manchester City against Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup).
– In national cup competitions (Copa del Rey and Supercopa), Barcelona have played extra time in seven of their last 10 ties since January 2021.
– This was the second Athletic versus Barcelona Copa del Rey tie (of 27 played) to feature extra time. The only previous instance came in the 1942 final (a 4-3 win for Barcelona).
What’s next?
LaLiga action resumes for these sides on Sunday, with Barcelona away at Deportivo Alaves, while Athletic travel to Rayo Vallecano.
