There is still some fight in Barcelona.
Losing 2-0 to Sevilla to enter the home game of the Copa del Rey semifinals, Barcelona forced overtime through a goal by Gerard Pique at the time of death and then won with a header from Martin Braithwaite in the discounts to arrive in the end. Both Levante and Athletic Bilbao will be the opponents. They will play the second leg of the semifinal on Thursday, tied 1-1 in total.
Ousmane Dembele kicked off his recovery with a sensational goal, firing from outside the box to the upper left corner, reducing Sevilla’s aggregate advantage to 2-1.
Barcelona almost drew sensationally through Jordi Alba, whose karate volleyball hit the crossbar.
Sevilla lost the chance to put the tie in bed when Lucas Ocampos had his penalty saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and with Sevilla reduced to 10 men after Fernando’s second yellow card, Piqué became the man of the hour in the discounts when he headed Antoine Griezmann’s cross. This resulted in a 2 to 2 total, with Barcelona equaling Sevilla’s 2-0 victory in the first leg with the goal force of Jules Kounde and former Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
Barcelona did not take long to advance, with a header from Braithwaite after the assistance of Jordi Alba guaranteeing the advantage in five minutes of extra time. Before the extra 15-minute break, Luuk de Jong saw the red, reducing Sevilla to just nine players.
It has been a competition of twists and drama for Barcelona, which required extra time to overtake third division Cornellà in the round of 16. Dembele and Braithwaite scored the goals after the two teams drew 0-0 in regulation.
A recovery was needed in the round of 16 against Rayo Vallecano, who led 1-0, until Lionel Messi scored in the 69th minute and Frenkie de Jong followed in the 80th minute.
The most notable of the group came in the quarterfinals, with Barcelona losing to Granada, by 2 to 0, in the 88th minute. Griezmann and Jordi Alba scored four minutes apart, although Barça forced the extra time with a volley in extra time. Griezmann gave Barcelona an advantage in overtime before Granada tied for a penalty kick, but de Jong and Jordi Alba dodged the winners to keep Barcelona alive.
The club expects their turnaround sequence to continue next week in the round of 16 of the Champions League, when they go to Paris in search of overcoming a 4-1 disadvantage for PSG in the second leg.