Lamine Yamal led Barcelona’s charge into the Copa del Rey quarter-finals as Hansi Flick’s men thrashed Real Betis 5-1.
Barca, who turned over Real Madrid at the weekend, opened the scoring in the third minute when Gavi fired a low effort into the corner of the goal after a neat assist from Dani Olmo.
The former RB Leipzig man, who has just been given the all-clear to play after a rollercoaster ride of registration issues, was later denied by goalkeeper Fran Vieites and then the post as the visitors fought hard to stay in touch.
Marc Bartra made a brilliant goalline clearance to keep out Raphinha’s close-range effort but Jules Kounde gave his side breathing space when he rifled home in the 27th minute from Lamine Yamal’s delightful pass.
The Frenchman thought he had a second in first-half stoppage time, only for his emphatic finish to be ruled out for offside as Barca ended the half well on top. Yamal looked to have made it 3-0 after volleying in Frenkie de Jong’s irresistible lofted ball over the top but once again VAR chalked the goal off for offside.
Just before the hour mark, however, Raphinha put the result beyond doubt with his 20th goal of the season following a brilliant run from Yamal. Substitute Ferran Torres made it four with a superb volley in the box in the 67th minute and Yamal finally got the goal he deserved when he slotted past Vietes 15 minutes from time to cap off a magical all-round performance.
Betis grabbed a consolation penalty goal through Barca loanee Vitor Roque in the 84th minute after Kounde brought Guido Rodriguez down in the box. But it did little to take the shine off a stunning win for the Blaugrana on Wednesday night.
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