There is still a fight in Barcelona.
Moving 2-0 to Sevilla, entering the round of the Copa del Rey semifinals, Barcelona forced overtime through Gerard Pique’s goal to the death and then beat Martin Braithwaite in the added time to reach the final. Levante or Athletic Bilbao will be the opponents. On Thursday, they will play the second stage of the semifinal, on Thursday, in a 1-1 draw.
Ousmane Dembele started the return with a sensational goal, throwing a right kick from outside the box in the top left corner to reduce Sevilla’s aggregate advantage of 2-1.
Barcelona almost equalized sensationally through Jordi Alba, whose karate volleyball moved away from the crossbar.
Sevilla missed their chance to put the tie in bed when Lucas Ocampos saved Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s penalty and, with Sevilla reduced to 10 men after Fernando’s second yellow card, Pique became the man of the moment deep in during the stop, when he went to the cross of Antoine Griezmann. That made it 2-2 overall, and Barcelona drew 2-0 with Sevilla’s first-leg victory over goals from Jules Kounde and former Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
It didn’t take long for Barcelona to take the lead, with Braithwaite’s header outside Jordi Alba’s assist, securing the lead with five minutes in overtime. Before the break between the additional 15-minute sessions, Luuk de Jong saw red, reducing Sevilla to just nine men.
It was a comeback and drama competition for Barcelona, which needed extra time to get Cornellà level three in the eighth. Dembele and Braithwaite scored the goals after the teams played a 0-0 draw by regulation.
It took a comeback 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.
The most remarkable of the group came in the quarterfinals, Barcelona watching Granada, 2-0, in the 88th minute. Griezmann and Jordi Alba scored four minutes away, although Barça forced extra time with the volley from its last stop. Griezmann lifted Barcelona in overtime before Granada equalized with a penalty kick, but de Jong and Jordi Alba attacked the winners of the match to keep Barcelona alive.
The club will hope that his return will continue next week in the eighth round of the Champions League, when he will head to Paris, trying to overturn a 4-1 deficit at PSG in the second stage.