Barcelona secured safe passage through to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a 2-1 win over Segunda Division outfit Albacete on Tuesday. The Catalan giants were made to wait until the 39th minute before Lamine Yamal opened the scoring, and Ronald Araujo later netted the second of the night, though Javi Moreno's strike set up a nervy ending to the encounter.
Confident from a three-game winning run, Barcelona were heavy favourites as they faced Real Madrid's conquerors from the previous round. However, they endured early frustration against Albacete as they struggled to create clear-cut opportunities, with Marcus Rashford placing wide from their best chance.
They eventually had Yamal to thank for breaking the deadlock. Barcelona won the ball high up the pitch, Frenkie de Jong passed to Yamal and the Spain international bent an effort into the far corner to make it 1-0 with his fifth goal in his last six games.
The floodgates didn't exactly open, but Araujo effectively ended Albacete's hopes of an unlikely comeback when he headed a powerful effort into the back of the net from Rashford's corner. Moreno did pull one back late on and the hosts pushed for a dramatic equaliser, but thankfully for Barca, it didn't arrive.
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