In Thursday’s tie of Copa Del Rey, Barcelona faced Granada at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes. Even though away from home, Barcelona didn’t shy away from attack from the very beginning of the match.
Young Winger Francisco Trincão made a lot of forward run in the first half of the match, giving Carlos Neva all sorts of troubles. However, despite their constant attacking rush, Barcelona was unable to find anything to show for their efforts in the first half. On the contrary, Leo Messi picked up a Yellow card on the 25th minute for a high footed challenge on Diaz.
Spanish keeper Aaron Escandell was kept busy the whole match but he put on a spectacular performance, denying Barcelona to the point of frustration. Kenedy scored on the 33rd minute to give Granada the lead which was doubled in the early minutes of the second half by Soldado.
Granada held their own and the credit certainly goes to Escandell. But Antoine Griezmann kept Barcelona alive by scoring on the 88th minute. It was Jordi Alba who ensured that Barcelona were not out of the tie by scoring from close range.
Since it was a Quarter Final tie for Copa Del Rey, the match progressed into extra time. Griezmann scored a brace. Dest gave away a penalty and Alba picked up a yellow for complaining against the referee’s decision. However, he made up for it by scoring a brace following De Jong’s goal.
As it turned out, Barcelona made a dramatic comeback when it mattered. With two goals and two assists, Griezmann was the man of the match but Sofascore credited Messi with a 10 out of 10 rating.
