Gareth Bale on target as Real Madrid brush aside Unionistas de Salamanca
Wednesday 22 January 2020 23:21, UK
A last-gasp winner from Antoine Griezmann spared Barcelona's blushes in a narrow 2-1 Copa del Rey victory over minnows UD Ibiza.
Barcelona's new coach Quique Setien had started his reign at the club with a 1-0 win over Granada on Sunday, but his side left it until the fifth minute of added time to avoid embarrassment.
The new coach had made the decision to leave behind a number of key players, including talisman forward Lionel Messi, and struggled to get into the match, with the home side taking an early lead through Javi Perez.
But Griezmann struck twice in the last 20 minutes to prevent a shock defeat and send Barca through to round four.
With their first attacking opportunity of the match, Ibiza took a surprise lead against a side who have won five out of the last eight Copa del Rey titles. After being fed the ball at the edge of the box by Rai Nascimento, Perez slotted home to put his side ahead, prompting celebrations involving the entire bench.
The home side almost extended their unlikely lead, and had the ball in the back of the net when Angel Rodado rounded a Barcelona defender before shooting the ball past Neto, but the goal was disallowed for a foul.
Barcelona grew into the game following the disallowed strike but struggled to turn their control of the ball into clear-cut chances, with the home side putting men behind the ball.
Ibiza had another opportunity to double their lead, with Barcelona too slow to clear the ball, allowing Nascimento to get a shot away which rebounded back off the far post. Rodado followed up on the shot, but Neto managed to just tip the ball over the bar.
Barcelona had to wait until nearly the 70th minute for their first shot on target, but the strike from Ivan Rakitic lacked power and was gathered easily by the Ibiza goalkeeper.
The visitors eventually levelled the tie in the 72nd minute, through Griezmann, who made a clever run behind the home defence before taking a touch and netting.
Deep into injury time, Barcelona snatched a face-saving victory when Jordi Alba played in Griezmann, who shot into the bottom right-hand corner.
Gareth Bale struck on his return from injury as Real Madrid eased past Unionistas de Salamanca 3-1 in the Copa del Rey.
The 30-year-old had not played since January 4, but was included by Zinedine Zidane in the starting line-up to face third-tier side Unionistas.
The manager was rewarded for his choice when the Welshman scored his third Real goal of the season after less than 20 minutes.
Real did not impose themselves fully on the game, and the home side took advantage, as substitute Alvaro Romero levelled the tie at the start of the second half.
However, Los Blancos' quality was too much for Unionistas in the end, with Juan Gongora scoring an own-goal for Real to retake the lead.
Brahim Diaz then secured victory for the visitors with his injury-time strike.
