There is still some battle left in Barcelona.
Trailing 2-0 to Sevilla at the start of the home match of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, Barcelona forced extra time through Gerard Pique’s goal at death and then won it on a header from Martin Braithwaite in the extra time to reach the final. Levante or Athletic Bilbao will be the opponent. They will play the second leg of their semi-final on Thursday, with a shared 1-1 at the total level.
Ousmane Dembélé kicked off the comeback early with a sensational goal, firing a right foot punch from outside the box into the top left corner to reduce Sevilla’s overall lead to 2-1.
Barcelona was almost sensationally tied by Jordi Alba, whose karate-esque volley pinged off the crossbar.
Sevilla missed his chance to put the draw to bed when Lucas Ocampos had his penalty kick saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and with Sevilla reduced to 10 men after Fernando’s second yellow card, Pique became the man of the moment deep in stoppage time. when he headed in the cross of Antoine Griezmann. That made the total 2-2, with Barcelona equaling the 2-0 victory in the first leg of Sevilla based on goals from Jules Kounde and former Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
It didn’t take long for Barcelona to advance, with a header from Braithwaite to Jordi Alba’s assist, securing the advantage after an extra five minutes. Prior to the break between the extra 15-minute sessions, Luuk de Jong saw red, leaving Sevilla only nine men.
It has been a competition of comebacks and drama for Barcelona, which took extra time to get through Cornellà’s third tier in the round of 32. Dembélé and Braithwaite scored the goals after the teams went to a 0-0 draw by regulations played.
A comeback was required in the last 16 vs. Rayo Vallecano, which led 1-0, until Lionel Messi scored in the 69th minute and Frenkie de Jong followed in the 80th.
The most notable of the pack came in the quarter-finals, with Barcelona 2-0 behind Granada in the 88th minute. Griezmann and Jordi Alba scored four minutes apart, although Barça forced extra time with his injury volleyball. Griezmann put Barcelona in extra time before Granada equalized after a penalty, but De Jong and Jordi Alba went to the match winners to keep Barcelona alive.
The club hopes the comeback streak will continue next week in the Champions League round of 16, when it heads to Paris to overturn a 4-1 deficit against PSG in their second leg.